Guesstimate – Count of wheelchairs sold in India

Following is a guesstimate done by me.

Parameter	Calculation	Value	Remarks
India’s Population		140 crore	Total population of India based on General Knowledge.
Age group 0-2 years	0		Very small kids don’t use wheelchairs.
Age group 3-17 years	(20% of 140 crore) / 10,000	28,000	1 out of 10,000 are born disabled.
Age group 18-45 years	(25% of 140 crore) / 5,000	70,000	1 out of 5,000. Number higher due to those who had accidents and lost leg(s).
Age group 46-55 years	(13% of 140 crore) / 2,500	72,800	With aging one gets on a wheelchair.
Age group 56-65 years	(12% of 140 crore) / 1,000	1,68,000
Age group 66-75 years	(11% of 140 crore) / 500	3,08,000
Age group 76-80 years	(8% of 140 crore) / 250	4,48,000
Age group 81-85 years	(7% of 140 crore) / 100	9,80,000
Age group 86+ years	(4% of 140 crore) / 50	11,20,000
Total Addressable Population		31,94,800 people using wheelchairs (adding above values)
Number of wheelchairs at home	(31,94,800) X 1.1	35,14,280	90% people have 1 wheelchair. 10% on average have 2.
Number of wheelchairs at functional civil airports across India	100 x 15	1,500	Some airports are big, some small. We take an average of 15 wheelchairs at an airport.
Number of wheelchairs in public places across India		1,000	Some tourist spots and malls in tier-1 cities have.
Number of wheelchairs in multi-speciality hospitals across India	5 x 100 x 543	2,71,500	We take 5 wheelchairs in a multi-speciality hospital, and there are 100 (average)  in every constituency.
Number of Wheelchairs		37,88,280 (adding above values)
Average life of a wheelchair	(37,88,280) / 4	9,47,070	We take that people change wheelchairs after every 4 years, on average.
Number of Wheelchairs Sold every year		Around 9.5 lakh units

Note that while India’s population is increasing, road accidents are decreasing. Also, due to advancements in medical treatments, wheelchair-bound people are walking after some years. Hence we take that the count of wheelchairs sold is constant in a year. The best way to grow the wheelchair industry is to make people buy new wheelchairs quickly, with useful / advanced features. Manufacturers can also contemplate selling accessories that can be sold along with wheelchairs.

(Cover Photo by Sabeel Ahammed)