Medical Gas Market Report Size Analysis:

Medical Gas Market Size was valued at USD 14.16 Billion in 2023 and is expected to reach USD 28.25 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 8.0% over the forecast period 2024-2032.

This report provides key statistical insights and emerging trends in the Medical Gas Market, focusing on clinical demand and infrastructure developments. It analyses the incidence and prevalence of respiratory and surgical conditions driving usage, regional volume trends, and prescription patterns across healthcare settings. The report also studies the volumes of healthcare spending on medical gas systems, production and supply chain metrics, and compliance with the global regulatory frameworks. Such insights allow stakeholders to gain a better understanding of usage dynamics, investment patterns, and emerging safety standards in the sector. This data is segregated by regions and funding sources, providing a detailed perspective on demand-side and operational developments influencing the market's future for medical gasses. These factors can be attributed to the rising prevalence of chronic respiratory disorders, a growing geriatric population, and measures taken by the authorities to promote healthcare infrastructure.

The World Health Organization (WHO) states that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality with an estimated 64 million affected people worldwide and that the condition is projected to be among the three leading causes of death by 2031. The prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among adults in the U.S. was 4.3% in 2023, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics. In 2023, North America (U.S.) accounted for a dominant share of the medical gas market due to developed health infrastructure and an increase in demand for home healthcare solutions. In the U.S., the medical gas market has shown consistent growth from USD 3.82 billion in 2023 to USD 7.55 billion in 2032. Based on the above-mentioned factors, the market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.88% and exhibits a trend of increasing demand due to respiratory chronic diseases, surgical procedures, and a growing geriatric population. The continued investments in healthcare infrastructure and home-based oxygen therapies will also sustain this upward trajectory.

Medical Gas Market Dynamics

Drivers

• Increasing surgical procedures worldwide are accelerating the usage of anesthetic and respiratory medical gases in clinical environments.

Increasing global surgical procedures such as elective, emergency, and outpatient surgeries have phenomenally increased the usage of medical gases in hospitals and surgical centers. Anesthetic gases such as nitrous oxide and oxygen are crucial during operations for pain management and patient stability. As surgical procedures become increasingly minimally invasive, and more robotic-assisted surgeries become commonplace, the need for accurate and reliable gas delivery systems continues to increase as well. Rising healthcare spending, better surgery results, and development in anesthesia techniques support this trend. The increasing prevalence of trauma, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and orthopedic diseases are other factors aiding to rise in surgeries and subsequently medical gas demand. Medical gas consumption has also risen in developing regions, where governments and private healthcare providers are upgrading operating rooms and increasing surgical capacity. Furthermore, the usage of these gases increases as the aged population doubles, requiring more complex treatments like joint replacements and cardiac surgeries. Training of surgical personnel and deployment of mobile surgical units in rural areas is also impacting the demand. The above all points together boost the market's growth by leveraging surgical care on regularized usage of medicated gases.

Restrain

• The high cost of infrastructure development and maintenance for medical gas systems affects accessibility in developing healthcare facilities.

High capital investment is associated with the installation and maintenance of medical gas components especially in small- and mid-sized healthcare environments or in rural hospitals. The price tag is significant from installing pipelining, gas generation, and backup cylinders to leak-proof delivery and safe storage. Regular maintenance, staff training, compliance testing, and emergency backup create ongoing costs. In developing economies, where budget limits the expansion of advanced healthcare services, this becomes a serious deterrent. This is to say that major hospitals might settle for more affordable options or postpone infrastructure modernization, ultimately limiting the availability of quality gas-based therapy. Poor maintenance and technical deficiencies may also lead to operational failures that interrupt care delivery and compromise patient safety. In rural areas, the unavailability of trained staff and erratic electricity supply for plants generating gas have hit it the hardest. When such infrastructure is available, scalability problem arises when patient volume increases, thus creating inefficiencies and potential dangers. This is especially the case for homecare oxygen therapy program implementation. The investment and the responsibility to have reliable medical gas systems is a continuous roadblock to market penetration, particularly across low-resource and underserved demographics.

Opportunities

• Rising investments in healthcare infrastructure and modernization of hospitals across emerging economies are driving global market opportunities.

Governments and private investors are increasingly allocating resources to upgrade healthcare infrastructure, particularly in developing nations across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. This includes building new hospitals, expanding critical care units, and modernizing surgical and emergency facilities all of which depend heavily on reliable medical gas systems. As urbanization increases and healthcare coverage expands under public and private health schemes, the need for oxygen, nitrous oxide, and other gases grows. Multinational corporations are also partnering with local providers to establish manufacturing and distribution centers, enhancing regional availability. Furthermore, global health programs and aid organizations are funding oxygen supply chains and training personnel to manage gas systems effectively. Modernization efforts include integrating automated gas monitoring systems and centralized pipeline networks, boosting efficiency and safety. The push toward digital health also complements these developments, enabling remote supervision and diagnostics. These expansions provide lucrative openings for gas manufacturers, equipment suppliers, and service providers to tap into previously underserved markets. With ongoing healthcare reform and policy support, infrastructure development represents a sustained and promising opportunity for medical gas market players.

Challenges

• Limited skilled workforce for handling, monitoring, and maintaining medical gas systems leads to inefficiencies and safety concerns in healthcare delivery.

The shortage of trained professionals capable of safely operating and maintaining medical gas systems is a pressing challenge in both developed and developing healthcare settings. Handling pressurized gases, ensuring proper flow rates, monitoring purity levels, and maintaining delivery systems require specialized skills and certifications. However, many facilities, especially in rural and under-resourced regions, lack adequately trained biomedical engineers, technicians, or clinical staff familiar with medical gas protocols. Improper installation or maintenance can lead to gas leaks, contamination, equipment failure, and even patient harm. Furthermore, regulatory audits often uncover deficiencies in documentation, training records, or standard operating procedures. High staff turnover and limited training programs further aggravate the issue. In fast-growing economies, rapid hospital expansion often outpaces the availability of skilled personnel to manage technical systems like gas pipelines and monitoring units. To mitigate this challenge, industry stakeholders must invest in training modules, certification programs, and remote support solutions. Still, building a well-trained workforce at scale remains difficult, creating a long-term bottleneck that affects both service quality and market reliability in the medical gas sector.

Medical Gas Market Segmentation Analysis

By Product

In 2023, the pure gases segment held the highest share in the medical gas market, accounting for over 57% revenue share. This dominance is attributed to their indispensable role in various medical applications, including respiratory therapy, anesthesia, and diagnostic procedures. The most common pure gas, oxygen is vital for the treatment of chronic lung diseases, such as COPD and asthma, which require continuous ministration. Globally, more than 64 million people suffer from COPD, according to WHO data, and oxygen therapy is a cornerstone of its management. Nitrous oxide is another critical pure gas used in anesthesia during surgical procedures.

Technological advancements in medical equipment further contribute to the growth of this segment. Devices like ventilators and anesthesia machines require pure gases for optimal functionality, ensuring precision and reliability during treatments. An increasing number of surgeries being done wish it be minimally invasive procedures worldwide has led to the increased demand for pure gases because of their ability to create controlled environments. The quality, purity, and safety of plain gases for use in healthcare are governed by regulatory systems. For example, medical oxygen is governed by the FDA and due diligence regarding production practices. The increasing adoption of home healthcare solutions has also fuelled demand for portable oxygen concentrators and other delivery systems that use pure gases.

By Application

In 2023, the therapeutic application segment accounted for 39% of the revenue share owing to broad application for chronic respiratory diseases and critical care procedures. Medicinals such as oxygen are essential for the treatment of disorders like compound obstructive pulmonary illness (COPD) and asthma. Therapeutic gases represent key components in healthcare, as WHO statistics show that respiratory diseases are responsible for metastatically accounting for more than 3 million deaths worldwide annually. Therapeutic gases are extensively utilized in emergency care settings to provide critical care for patients in acute medical emergencies such as cardiac arrest or trauma. Oxygen therapy is frequently the first-line therapy for hypoxemia (decreased blood oxygen levels), rendering it critical in emergency departments and ICUs. Additionally, nitrous oxide acts as an analgesic and anesthetic in the surgical setting. Demand for therapeutic gases has received a major boost from the increasing trend toward home healthcare. Portable oxygen therapy helps to facilitate home treatment for patients with chronic respiratory conditions. This shift aligns with the increasing prevalence of aging populations globally, who often require long-term respiratory support.

By End Use

Hospitals accounted for a significant revenue share of 27% in 2023 due to their extensive use of medical gases across various departments such as ICUs, operating rooms, and emergency care units. Medical gases such as oxygen and nitrous oxide are essential in critical care environments wherein patients may need urgent respiratory assistance or anesthesia for surgeries. The increase in elective surgeries globally has further increased the demand for anesthetic gases that are used broadly in hospitals operating rooms. By 2023, more than 15 million surgeries were being performed each year according to government data from the U.S., many of which required controlled gas environments enabled by the hospitals’ highly advanced infrastructure. Governments are investing in developing healthcare infrastructure around the world, which also gives hospitals a boost. For example, the Indian National Health Mission (NHM) has made provisions for a considerable amount of funding to improve hospital facilities as part of sustainable projects, especially those with advanced medical gas systems. Likewise, European nations have committed large budgets to refurbishing hospital ICUs with high-efficiency ventilators requiring exact gas mixtures. The increased sophistication in the technology-enabled hospitals to be able to use medical gases more efficiently. For example, modern ventilators and anesthesia machines rely on automated systems that ensure precise delivery of oxygen or nitrous oxide during treatments.

Medical Gas Market Regional Analysis

In 2023, North America accounted for more than 37% revenue share of the global medical gas market, attributable to advanced healthcare systems and the high prevalence of chronic diseases such as COPD, asthma, and pneumonia in Western countries. This region is a big contributor and the U.S. has solid government initiatives to improve healthcare infrastructure. For example, the FDA oversees manufacturing standards for medical gases, such as oxygen and nitrous oxide, used throughout hospitals and homecare environments. An aging population in the region also fuels the demand for therapeutic gases as of 2023, Census Bureau stats indicated nearly 16% of the U.S. population was aged 65 or older. This demographic transition has contributed to the increasing incidence of age-related respiratory pathology that requires long-term oxygen therapy.

Asia-Pacific is anticipated to grow with the fastest CAGR growth, due to developing health care infrastructure and growing population rates. Countries such as China contribute a large share of global COPD cases approximately 100 million patients necessitating higher demand for oxygen therapy solutions. Government initiatives like India’s Ayushman Bharat scheme have greatly increased the delivery of affordable healthcare services therapeutic gas delivery systems included. Rapid urbanization across Asia-Pacific adds to this by increasing the burden of pollution-related respiratory disorders, including asthma, in the urban population. Additionally, investments in hospital infrastructure across developing economies have boosted adoption rates of advanced medical equipment reliant on pure gases.

Medical Gas Market Key Players

• Air Liquide (ALPHAGAZ, MEDIGAS)

• Linde plc (LOX, HiQ Specialty Gases)

• Praxair Technology, Inc. (now part of Linde) (Heliox, Medipure)

• Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (Freshline gases, MEDIGAS)

• Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation (MediOX, Sanarc)

• Atlas Copco AB (GA Medical Compressors, BeaconMedaes)

• SOL Group (SOL OXYGENE MEDICAL, NITROX SOL)

• GCE Group (Mediline, MediSelect II)

• Amico Corporation (Amico Medical Gas Outlets, Alert-3 Alarm Panels)

• Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc. (Medical Oxygen USP, Nitrous Oxide USP)

Key Users

• Mayo Clinic

• Cleveland Clinic

• Johns Hopkins Hospital

• Mount Sinai Health System

• Apollo Hospitals (India)

• Bumrungrad International Hospital (Thailand)

• NHS (United Kingdom)

• Kaiser Permanente

• Fortis Healthcare

• HCA Healthcare

Recent Developments in the Medical Gas Market​

• In January 2025, Atlas Copco Group acquired Medi-Teknique Ltd., significantly increasing its market presence in medical gas maintenance services throughout the UK.

• In October 2023, Air Liquide introduced advances in portable oxygen concentrators aimed at extending home healthcare solutions worldwide.