Steam Autoclaves Market Size & Share, by Application (Medical, Dental, Laboratory, Pharmaceutical, Bio-hazardous Waste Management); End User; Product; Technology - SWOT Analysis, Competitive Strategic Insights, Regional Trends 2025-2037

Steam Autoclaves Market - Growth Drivers and Challenges

Growth Drivers

• Expanding prevalence of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs): Increasing occurrence of HAIs is a key factor driving steam autoclave installations. According to the CDC, approximately 1 in 30 patients every day become infected in a U.S. hospital, which can be viewed as a pressing need for sterilization. In Europe, meanwhile, the ECDC reported that, across acute care hospitals, there were 8 million HAIs in the region. The increasing number of patients needing sterile environments is creating a robust opportunity for steam autoclaves in North America and Europe.
• Strict regulatory compliance: Regulatory requirements from agencies like the CDC and FDA comply with sterilization standards, which lends itself to the expanding use of autoclaves. In 2023, the FDA published the guideline for the sterilization of medical devices; they recommended steam autoclaves because they have proven to be reliable in reducing viable microbial contamination.

Shaping Sterilization Demand: Historical User Growth and Market Evolution

The emergence of medical sterilization equipment, especially steam autoclaves, vastly expanded the patient population exposed to such systems over the decade from 2010-2020. Additionally, the growing global issue of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), tightening infection controls and hygiene standards, and a rise in chronic conditions requiring multiple hospitalizations necessitated a sterile setting for patient care for a growing segment of the patient population. As a result, countries with more aging populations (Japan, Germany) or which were experiencing tremendous growth in their healthcare system (India, China) began using steam autoclaves significantly compared to any previous decade.

This decade of steady growth in patient population puts the steam autoclave in a good position for growth. With more patients treated, there could be further expansion of healthcare facilities supporting procurement and replacement cycles for autoclave units. Furthermore, growth has also been sustained in emerging markets where urbanization is increasing the patient population for hospital facilities. These trends of growing treated patients requiring a sterile setting show that true market saturation is in the future.

Historical Patient Growth Data: Steam Autoclave Users (2010–2020)

Strategic Market Positioning in the Global Steam Autoclave Industry

From 2018 to 2023, leading manufacturers of steam autoclaves utilized deliberate tactics to maintain or solidify market share while addressing surging global sterilization demand. For instance, Getinge AB increased its ongoing revenue in the autoclave division by 6.2% in 2023 after releasing CSU div 1.0 AI sterilization tracking systems for hospital networks in the EU. These innovations, combined with growing infection control regulations and standards, have drastically changed how healthcare systems across the world are taking on procurement methods. Japan and Germany have now mandated preventive maintenance of critical equipment and regular upgrades. Meanwhile, U.S. manufacturers have begun scaling up mobile units for field hospitals following CDC and NIH recommendations on rural hospitals and some privately-owned field hospitals. This proactive manufacturer activity is also creating a pathway for a durable and sustained growth opportunity.

Revenue Growth by Manufacturer

Challenges

• High initial and operating costs of adoption: Steam autoclaves are expensive, and this has a significant detrimental effect on small health facilities, especially in developing regions. The World Health Organization (WHO) has indicated that 40% of medical equipment is never used in low-income countries because of overly high costs of procurement and subsequent operating costs. This is a disadvantage for government-funded hospitals facing budgetary constraints in adopting the technology.
• Restricted payer coverage and limited government funding in emerging markets: In many emerging markets, government-sponsored healthcare funding is often flat, and since government budgets for healthcare typically prioritize basic infrastructure for health systems over high-cost sterilization equipment, the remaining budgets become so thin in this space further limiting the adoption in public hospitals serving low-income patients requiring sterilization equipment, since they may have to make out-of-pocket payments that may be prohibitive in cost. For example, in 2024, STERIS worked with state health agencies in the United States to subsidize the costs for autoclave installations.