Slovakia Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in slovakia, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Optic, Photo, Medical and Surgical Instruments, HS Code 90
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Overview

Table: Total Market Size for Optic, Photo, Medical and Surgical Instruments, HS Code 90
 2022202320242025 (Estimated)
Total Market Size9,035,8958,587,5738,024,2878,700,000
Total Local Production8,297,2237,852,3337,259,0108,000,000
Total Exports991,4931,083,0221,001,358900,000
Total Imports1,730,1651,818,2621,766,6351,600,000
Imports from the U.S.36,14236,08343,24540,000
Exchange Rate: 1 USD1.181.1951.0821.05

USD thousands (total market size = (total local production + imports) - exports) 

Data Sources: 

Total Local Production: Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic 

Total Exports: Global Trade Atlas, Eurostat 

Total Imports: Global Trade Atlas, Eurostat 

Imports from U.S.: Global Trade Atlas, Eurostat 

Exchange Rate: European Central Bank 

Leading Sub-Sectors

The following specific items were the primary exports from the U.S. to Slovakia covered by this Leading Sector, ranked in USD from 2023 to 2024:

HS codeITEM20232024
90TOTAL OF SELECTED PRODUCTS36,083,26643,245,465
9018MEDICAL, SURGICAL, DENTAL OR VET INST, NO ELEC, PT8,985,89111,413,225
9013LIQUID CRYSTAL DEVICES NESOI; LASERS; OPT APPL; PT10,676,6059,258,097
9030OSCILLOSCOPES, SPECTRUM ANALYZERS ETC, PARTS ETC3,448,4536,084,988
9027INST ETC FOR PHYSICAL ETC ANAL ETC; MICROTOME; PTS3,830,1003,351,027
9021ORTHOPEDIC APPL; ARTIF BODY PTS; HEAR AID; PTS ETC2,874,4462,460,444
9031MACHINES, NESOI IN CHAPTER 90; PROFILE PROJECT, PT2,143,9442,143,944
9026INST ETC MEASURE OR CHECK FLOW, LEVEL ETC, PTS ETC989,3541,940,341
9023INST, APPTS&MODELS, FOR DEMONSTRATIONAL USE& PARTS31,1631,303,513
9022X-RAY ETC APPARATUS; TUBES, PANELS, SCREEN ETC, PT611,223925,907
9001OPT FIBERS & BUND ETC; POL SHEETS; UNMOUN OPT ELEM816,752899,130
9015SURVEY, HYDROGR, METEORO ETC INST; RANGEF ETC, PTS144,293813,858
9024MACHINES ETC FOR TESTING MECH PROP OF MATERIAL, PT199,264628,715
9002OPTICAL ELEMENTS, MOUNTED; PARTS & ACCESSORIES413,628317,668
9032AUTOMATIC REGULATING OR CONTROL INSTRUMENTS; PARTS32,185307,469
9017DRAWING, MATH, MEASURING INST ETC NESOI, PARTS150,607255,773
9025HYDROMETERS, THERMOMETERS, PYROMETERS ETC; PTS ETC180,023255,380
9019MECH-THER, MASSAGE, PSYCH TEST, OZONE APP ETC, PTS1,071,163246,396
9028GAS, LIQUID OR ELECTRIC SUPPLY ETC METERS, PARTS76,174126,276

Opportunities

Optical, photo, and measuring equipment consumption continues to increase in Slovakia. The market is especially focused on high-tech products. Most equipment is still imported. New entrants face competition from the same international competitors they encounter elsewhere in the world. Most opportunities are in industrial production, especially automotive, and in the medical and dental sectors.
E-health activities are partially available in Slovakia. While e-prescriptions are fully functional, e-medical records and e-examinations have only been partially implemented. Slovakia’s diagnosis related group (DRG) healthcare reimbursement and payment system is still not fully implemented after years of delays.   
Most private health care centers continue to invest considerable amounts of money in new health care equipment. Slovakia has about 3,000 practicing dentists, most of whom are private practitioners who receive full payment for their services directly from patients. Private dental clinics are interested in keeping up to date with the latest technological advances and procuring new equipment to satisfy the demands of their customers. Especially promising segments for U.S. suppliers of dental equipment are laser dentistry, implants, and cosmetic/aesthetic dentistry.
According to Slovakia’s Recovery and Resilience Plan, healthcare is a focus area with planned allocation of USD 1.53 billion divided into the following sectors:
•    Modern and affordable health care including social and special care (USD 1.17 billion)
•    Humane, modern, and affordable mental health care (USD 95 million)
•    Affordable and high-quality long-term social and health care (USD 264.4 million)
There are export opportunities in robotic surgery equipment, diagnostic equipment, telecare, telemedicine, virtual medicine (in the areas of pain relief and mental health) and AI (in the development of diagnostic systems/health services [e.g., symptoms checkers], precision medicine, genomics, chatbots, mobile apps ideally reimbursed by health insurance, and cybersecurity). Pharmaceutical and chemical industries offer R&D of new innovative, generic, and biosimilar drugs, as well as export opportunities in digitalization, process automatization, and qualified personnel education. The Ministry of Health operates an R&D incubator platform called Biohub, which may be a useful gateway to finding potential business partners, exploring tech-transfer opportunities, and/or VC investment.  
Resources
Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic
Eurostat 
Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic 
Slovak Dental Chamber
Contact: romana.lackovicova@trade.gov

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