The public and private per capita health expenditure differs significantly by country. As of 2023, the United States had by far the highest public per capita spending worldwide. Moreover, the U.S. had the second-highest private expenditure on health globally just after Switzerland. Health expenditures globally Health expenditures include the consumption of health goods, services and public health programs as well as insurance and government spending. Globally, health expenditures are on the rise. Among all countries the average per capita health expenditure is projected to see an increase of over 30 percent from the 2019 totals by the year 2050. Despite the growing expenditures, there are still countries with relatively low health expenditures. The countries with the lowest governmental health expenditure include South Sudan, Eritrea and Bangladesh. Health expenditures spotlight: the U.S. In 2021 the U.S. national health expenditure was at an all-time high. However, the projections indicate that total health expenditures will increase even more. The per capita health expenditures for the U.S. looked equally grim, with 2021 projected to be the most expensive year for health care on record. Despite having seen a significant increase in the total cost of health care in the U.S., trends indicate that the annual percentage change in health expenditures is decreasing over time.

In 2023, the United States had the highest per capita health expenditure among OECD countries. At that time, per capita health expenditure in the U.S. amounted over ****** U.S. dollars, significantly higher than in Switzerland, the country with the second-highest per capita health expenditure. Norway, Germany and Austria are also within the top five countries with the highest per capita health expenditure. The United States also spent the highest share of it’s gross domestic product on health care, with **** percent of its GDP spent on health care services. Health Expenditure in the U.S. The United States is the highest spending country worldwide when it comes to health care. In 2022, total health expenditure in the U.S. exceeded **** trillion dollars. Expenditure as a percentage of GDP is projected to increase to approximately ** percent by the year 2031. Distribution of Health Expenditure in the U.S. Health expenditure in the United States is spread out across multiple categories such as nursing home facilities, home health care, and prescription drugs. As of 2022, the majority of health expenditure in the United States was spent on hospital care, accounting for a bit less than *** third of all health spending. Hospital care was followed by spending on physician and clinical services which accounted for ** percent of overall health expenditure.

World healthcare spending per capita for 2022 was $1,235, a 0.9% decline from 2021.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>World healthcare spending per capita for 2021 was <strong>$1,246</strong>, a <strong>7.57% increase</strong> from 2020.</li>
<li>World healthcare spending per capita for 2020 was <strong>$1,158</strong>, a <strong>7.05% increase</strong> from 2019.</li>
<li>World healthcare spending per capita for 2019 was <strong>$1,082</strong>, a <strong>1.61% increase</strong> from 2018.</li>
</ul>Current expenditures on health per capita in current US dollars. Estimates of current health expenditures include healthcare goods and services consumed during each year.

Among OECD member countries, the United States had the highest percentage of gross domestic product spent on health care as of 2023. The U.S. spent nearly ** percent of its GDP on health care services. Germany, France and Japan followed the U.S. with distinctly smaller percentages. The United States had both significantly higher private and public spending on health compared with other developed countries. Why compare OECD countries?OECD stands for Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. It is an economic organization consisting of ** members, mostly high-income countries and committed to democratic principles and market economy. This makes OECD statistics more comparable than statistics of developed and undeveloped countries. Health economics is an important matter for the OECD, even more since increasing health costs and an aging population have become an issue for many developed countries. Health costs in the U.S.  A higher GDP share spent on health care does not automatically lead to a better functioning health system. In the case of the U.S., high spending is mainly because of higher costs and prices, not due to higher utilization. For example, physicians’ salaries are much higher in the U.S. than in other comparable countries. A doctor in the U.S. earns almost twice as much as the average physician in Germany. Pharmaceutical spending per capita is also distinctly higher in the United States. Furthermore, the U.S. also spends more on health administrative costs compare to other wealthy countries.

The average for 2021 based on 181 countries was 7.21 percent. The highest value was in Afghanistan: 21.83 percent and the lowest value was in Brunei: 2.2 percent. The indicator is available from 2000 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

U.S. healthcare spending per capita for 2022 was $12,434, a 3.63% increase from 2021.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>U.S. healthcare spending per capita for 2021 was <strong>$11,999</strong>, a <strong>2.8% increase</strong> from 2020.</li>
<li>U.S. healthcare spending per capita for 2020 was <strong>$11,673</strong>, a <strong>10.68% increase</strong> from 2019.</li>
<li>U.S. healthcare spending per capita for 2019 was <strong>$10,546</strong>, a <strong>3.57% increase</strong> from 2018.</li>
</ul>Current expenditures on health per capita in current US dollars. Estimates of current health expenditures include healthcare goods and services consumed during each year.

The average for 2021 based on 181 countries was 1402.97 U.S. dollars. The highest value was in the USA: 12012.24 U.S. dollars and the lowest value was in Madagascar: 17.64 U.S. dollars. The indicator is available from 2000 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Italy healthcare spending per capita for 2023 was $3,228, a 2.99% increase from 2022.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>Italy healthcare spending per capita for 2022 was <strong>$3,135</strong>, a <strong>7.8% decline</strong> from 2021.</li>
<li>Italy healthcare spending per capita for 2021 was <strong>$3,400</strong>, a <strong>11.03% increase</strong> from 2020.</li>
<li>Italy healthcare spending per capita for 2020 was <strong>$3,062</strong>, a <strong>5.2% increase</strong> from 2019.</li>
</ul>Current expenditures on health per capita in current US dollars. Estimates of current health expenditures include healthcare goods and services consumed during each year.

The rationale for developing the EU HCCD for use in Health Technology Assessment (HTA) across countries is to provide a common dataset of international costs, which can feed into health economic evaluations carried out by transferring economic evaluation analysis and models across countries. Defining a core dataset of costs for use in HTA across countries enables analyses that try to understand the variation in costs within and across countries (taking into account the differences between the healthcare systems and other factors). Additionally, it makes it easier to carry out multi-country studies and to adapt economic evaluation studies from country to country by saving human resources time (and consequently costs) in the task of looking for healthcare costs.

United States US: Proportion of Population Spending More Than 25% of Household Consumption or Income on Out-of-Pocket Health Care Expenditure: % data was reported at 0.781 % in 2013. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.856 % for 2012. United States US: Proportion of Population Spending More Than 25% of Household Consumption or Income on Out-of-Pocket Health Care Expenditure: % data is updated yearly, averaging 0.880 % from Dec 1995 (Median) to 2013, with 18 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.078 % in 2000 and a record low of 0.724 % in 2008. United States US: Proportion of Population Spending More Than 25% of Household Consumption or Income on Out-of-Pocket Health Care Expenditure: % data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Poverty. Proportion of population spending more than 25% of household consumption or income on out-of-pocket health care expenditure, expressed as a percentage of a total population of a country; ; Wagstaff et al. Progress on catastrophic health spending: results for 133 countries. A retrospective observational study, Lancet Global Health 2017.; Weighted Average;

The Global Health Expenditure Database (GHED) provides internationally comparable data on health spending for close to 190 countries. The database is open access and supports the goal of Universal Health Coverage by helping monitor the availability of resources for health and the extent to which they are used efficiently and equitably. This, in turn, helps ensure health services are available and affordable when people need them...WHO works collaboratively with Member States and updates the database annually using available data such as government budgets and health accounts studies. Where necessary, modifications and estimates are made to ensure the comprehensiveness and consistency of the data across countries and years. GHED is the source of the health expenditure data republished by the World Bank and the WHO Global Health Observatory. (from website)

China Consumption Expenditure per Capita: Health Care and Medical Services data was reported at 2,547.000 RMB in 2024. This records an increase from the previous number of 2,460.000 RMB for 2023. China Consumption Expenditure per Capita: Health Care and Medical Services data is updated yearly, averaging 743.700 RMB from Dec 1998 (Median) to 2024, with 27 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2,547.000 RMB in 2024 and a record low of 173.200 RMB in 2000. China Consumption Expenditure per Capita: Health Care and Medical Services data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Household Survey – Table CN.HD: Expenditure per Capita.

Historical chart and dataset showing Russia healthcare spending per capita by year from 2000 to 2022.

In 2018, the U.S. share of total global health expenditures was at 41 percent, and was forecasted to decrease to 35 percent during the coming decade until 2028. Indian and South Korean shares of global health expenditures were forecasted to grow to 3 and 2 percent, respectively.

European Healthcare Expenditure by Cost Sharing with Third-Party Payers by Country, 2023 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

European Healthcare Expenditure on Current Health Care by Country, 2021 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

European Healthcare Expenditure on Current Health Care Share by Country (Million Euros), 2023 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

UAE healthcare spending per capita for 2022 was $2,315, a 2.88% increase from 2021.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>UAE healthcare spending per capita for 2021 was <strong>$2,250</strong>, a <strong>4.44% increase</strong> from 2020.</li>
<li>UAE healthcare spending per capita for 2020 was <strong>$2,154</strong>, a <strong>9.78% increase</strong> from 2019.</li>
<li>UAE healthcare spending per capita for 2019 was <strong>$1,962</strong>, a <strong>4.8% increase</strong> from 2018.</li>
</ul>Current expenditures on health per capita in current US dollars. Estimates of current health expenditures include healthcare goods and services consumed during each year.

European Healthcare Expenditure on Households as Providers of Home Health Care by Country, 2023 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

European Healthcare Expenditure on Social Health Insurance Agencies Share by Country (Million Euros), 2023 Discover more data with ReportLinker!