Healthcare spending in the United Kingdom stood at 317 billion British pounds in 2024. When looking at real healthcare expenditure*, spending already exceeded this amount in 2021, where it reached 324 billion British pounds in 2024 prices. Health expenditure in the UK compared to Europe In 2024, the UK spent almost 11 percent of its GDP on healthcare. In comparison to other European countries, this ranked the UK fifth in terms of health expenditure. At the top of the list was Switzerland, which spent 12 percent of its GDP on healthcare that year.  Performance of the NHS in the UK Waiting times have been getting worse in the A&E department over the years. The NHS has been falling behind the target that 95 percent of patients should be seen within four hours of arrival. As a result, the primary reasons for dissatisfaction with the NHS among the public are the length of time required to get a GP or hospital appointment and the lack of staff.

The government of the United Kingdom spent 241.8 billion British pounds on health in 2024/25, compared with 222 billion pounds in the previous financial year.

Healthcare expenditure statistics, produced to the international definitions of the System of Health Accounts 2011.

Subcategories may not sum to aggregates due to rounding.

This statistic displays the annual public healthcare spending in the United Kingdom from 2000 to 2023. The total public healthcare spending increased over the period concerned to approximately ***** British pounds per capita in 2022, the highest in the provided time interval, before slightly falling to ***** British pounds in 2023.

Healthcare spending in the United Kingdom (UK) as a share of the gross domestic product (GDP) has increased since 1990, when it was 5.1 percent. By 2024, healthcare expenditure in the UK amounted to 11.1 percent of the GDP. Health expenditure in the UK compared to Europe  In comparison to other European countries in 2023, the UK ranked fifth highest in terms of healthcare spending as a share of the GDP. Top of the list was Germany, which spent 12.3 percent of its GDP on healthcare in this year. This was followed by Austria and Switzerland, which spent 11.8 percent and 11.7 percent on health, respectively. Performance of the NHS in the UK Waiting times have been getting worse in the A&E department over the years. The NHS has been falling behind the target that 95 percent of patients should be seen within four hours of arrival. As a result, the primary reasons for dissatisfaction with the NHS among the public are the length of time required to get a GP or hospital appointment and the lack of staff.   

In 2024/25, health spending in the United Kingdom was ***** British pounds per capita, ranging from ***** pounds per capita in London, to ***** pounds per capita in South East England.

UK healthcare expenditure data by financing scheme, function and provider, and additional analyses produced to internationally standardised definitions.

United Kingdom UK: Current Health Expenditure: % of GDP data was reported at 9.877 % in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 9.799 % for 2014. United Kingdom UK: Current Health Expenditure: % of GDP data is updated yearly, averaging 7.615 % from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2015, with 16 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 9.877 % in 2015 and a record low of 6.012 % in 2000. United Kingdom UK: Current Health Expenditure: % of GDP data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.World Bank: Health Statistics. Level of current health expenditure expressed as a percentage of GDP. Estimates of current health expenditures include healthcare goods and services consumed during each year. This indicator does not include capital health expenditures such as buildings, machinery, IT and stocks of vaccines for emergency or outbreaks.; ; World Health Organization Global Health Expenditure database (http://apps.who.int/nha/database).; Weighted average;

United Kingdom UK: Domestic General Government Health Expenditure: % of GDP data was reported at 7.936 % in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 7.870 % for 2014. United Kingdom UK: Domestic General Government Health Expenditure: % of GDP data is updated yearly, averaging 6.382 % from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2015, with 16 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 7.936 % in 2015 and a record low of 4.917 % in 2000. United Kingdom UK: Domestic General Government Health Expenditure: % of GDP data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.World Bank: Health Statistics. Public expenditure on health from domestic sources as a share of the economy as measured by GDP.; ; World Health Organization Global Health Expenditure database (http://apps.who.int/nha/database).; Weighted average;

In 2024, the annual spending on public healthcare in the United Kingdom (UK) accounted for *** percent of GDP. This is an increase from *** percent in 2023. Total spending on health in the UK In total, approximately *** billion British pounds were spent on healthcare in the UK in 2024. Although, spending as a share of GDP decreased from 2009 to 2019, the total spending on health has continued to increase. Broken down by function, the UK government spent *** billion pounds on curative/rehabilitative care. Performance of the NHS in the UK Waiting times have been getting worse in the A&E department over the years. The NHS has been falling behind the target that ** percent of patients should be seen within * hours of arrival. As a result, the primary reasons for dissatisfaction with the NHS among the public are the length of time required to get a GP or hospital appointment and the lack of staff.

Forecast: Health Expenditure in the UK 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

United Kingdom UK: Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditure: % of Current Health Expenditure data was reported at 14.794 % in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 14.688 % for 2014. United Kingdom UK: Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditure: % of Current Health Expenditure data is updated yearly, averaging 10.706 % from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2015, with 16 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 14.843 % in 2013 and a record low of 9.349 % in 2009. United Kingdom UK: Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditure: % of Current Health Expenditure data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.World Bank: Health Statistics. Share of out-of-pocket payments of total current health expenditures. Out-of-pocket payments are spending on health directly out-of-pocket by households.; ; World Health Organization Global Health Expenditure database (http://apps.who.int/nha/database).; Weighted Average;

United Kingdom UK: Domestic General Government Health Expenditure: % of Current Health Expenditure data was reported at 80.352 % in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 80.316 % for 2014. United Kingdom UK: Domestic General Government Health Expenditure: % of Current Health Expenditure data is updated yearly, averaging 83.087 % from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2015, with 16 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 85.197 % in 2009 and a record low of 80.178 % in 2013. United Kingdom UK: Domestic General Government Health Expenditure: % of Current Health Expenditure data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.World Bank: Health Statistics. Share of current health expenditures funded from domestic public sources for health. Domestic public sources include domestic revenue as internal transfers and grants, transfers, subsidies to voluntary health insurance beneficiaries, non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH) or enterprise financing schemes as well as compulsory prepayment and social health insurance contributions. They do not include external resources spent by governments on health.; ; World Health Organization Global Health Expenditure database (http://apps.who.int/nha/database).; Weighted average;

United Kingdom UK: Domestic General Government Health Expenditure: % of General Government Expenditure data was reported at 18.513 % in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 18.003 % for 2014. United Kingdom UK: Domestic General Government Health Expenditure: % of General Government Expenditure data is updated yearly, averaging 15.063 % from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2015, with 16 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 18.513 % in 2015 and a record low of 13.765 % in 2000. United Kingdom UK: Domestic General Government Health Expenditure: % of General Government Expenditure data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.World Bank: Health Statistics. Public expenditure on health from domestic sources as a share of total public expenditure. It indicates the priority of the government to spend on health from own domestic public resources.; ; World Health Organization Global Health Expenditure database (http://apps.who.int/nha/database).; Weighted average;

Estimates of healthcare expenditure in the UK to the definitions contained in the System of Health Accounts (SHA, OECD 2000) Source agency: Office for National Statistics Designation: Official Statistics not designated as National Statistics Language: English Alternative title: Expenditure on Healthcare in the UK

Monthly expenditure transactions exceeding £25,000 for NHS East of England as part of the Department of Health. This is a contribution to the Government's commitment to transparency in expenditure.

Responsibility for public health was devolved to local authorities in 2013/14. They are now responsible for improving the health of their local population and reducing health inequalities. The reports featured on this page are rapid analyses conducted by City Intelligence at the GLA, examining the public health grants that are allocated to London local authorities each year. Reports are available for the grants allocated for 2020 to 2021, 2022 to 2023, 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026.

Forecast: Capital Health Expenditure in the UK 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!