KUALA LUMPUR, April 18 — More money will be spent on healthcare in Malaysia as the country’s middle class group expands, ratings agency RAM Ratings has said.

RAM Ratings said higher healthcare spending is expected in Malaysia and three other South-east Asian countries, spurred by growing income levels and increased awareness on healthcare.

“With the exception of Singapore, we expect Asean 4 (Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia) countries to experience rising income levels and increased spending on healthcare need,” it was quoted saying by local daily The Star.

RAM Ratings said that healthcare spending in Asean as a whole is still far below levels in developed nations, even though there has been rising demand from the region’s growing middle class group over the past 10 years.

The firm cited Japan and the UK as example, where healthcare spending per capita is twice that of Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.

As for healthcare spending worldwide, RAM Rating said it is expected to grow to US$9.3 trillion (RM36.6 trillion), based on a projected average annual growth of 5.2 per cent during the 2014 to 2018 period.