Per capita national health expenditures in the United States have increased significantly since 1960. In 2023, national health expenditures amounted to **** thousand U.S. dollars per capita. For comparison, in 1960, per capital expenditures for health stood at *** U.S. dollars. According to recent data, the U.S. has some of the highest health care costs in the world. Health care expenditures With increased per capita health expenditures, U.S. health care expenditures as a percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP) have also increased over the decades. Among developed countries, the U.S. has the highest health expenditure as a proportion of the GDP. The high level of health costs in the U.S. may be attributable to high costs for prescribed drugs and health services as well as high administrative costs. Cost areas A large proportion of all health care spending in the U.S. is attributable to hospital care and physician and clinical services. In recent years, many sectors have seen an increase in health care spending. However, data suggests that prescription drugs have seen some of the most dramatic increases in spending in recent years. The annual prescription drug expenditures in the U.S. reached an all-time high by the end of 2022.

In 2023, U.S. national health expenditure as a share of its gross domestic product (GDP) reached 17.6 percent, this was an increase on the previous year. The United States has the highest health spending based on GDP share among developed countries. Both public and private health spending in the U.S. is much higher than other developed countries. Why the U.S. pays so much moreWhile private health spending in Canada stays at around three percent and in Germany under two percent of the gross domestic product, it is nearly nine percent in the United States. Another reason for high costs can be found in physicians’ salaries, which are much higher in the U.S. than in other wealthy countries. A general practitioner in the U.S. earns nearly twice as much as the average physician in other high-income countries. Additionally, medicine spending per capita is also significantly higher in the United States. Finally, inflated health care administration costs are another of the predominant factors which make health care spending in the U.S. out of proportion. It is important to state that Americans do not pay more because they have a higher health care utilization, but mainly because of higher prices. Expected developmentsBy 2031, it is expected that health care spending in the U.S. will reach nearly one fifth of the nation’s gross domestic product. Or in dollar-terms, health care expenditures will accumulate to about seven trillion U.S. dollars in total.

Graph and download economic data for Health Expenditures per Capita (HLTHSCPCHCSA) from 2000 to 2021 about healthcare, health, expenditures, per capita, and USA.

The United States has the highest expenditure on health care per capita globally. However, the U.S. has an unique way of paying for their health care where a majority of the expenditure falls upon private insurances. In FY 2024, around one ***** of all health expenditure is paid by private insurance. Public insurance programs Medicare and Medicaid accounted for ** and ** percent, respectively, of health expenditure during that same year. U.S. health care system Globally health spending has been increasing among most countries. However, the U.S. has the highest public and private per capita health expenditure among all countries globally, followed by Switzerland. As of 2020, annual health care costs per capita in the United States totaled to over ** thousand U.S. dollars, a significant amount considering the average U.S. personal income is around ** thousand dollars. Out of pocket costs in the U.S. Aside from overall high health care costs for U.S. residents, the total out-of-pocket costs for health care have been on the rise. In recent years, the average per capita out-of-pocket health care payments have exceeded *** thousand dollars. Physician services, dental services and prescription drugs account for the largest proportion of out-of-pocket expenditures for U.S. residents.

Limit state-purchased health care cost growth to 2% less than the projected national health expenditures average every year through 2019.

This data package contains the information of Medicare and Medicaid healthcare spending and healthcare cost and percentages by state.

Graph and download economic data for Expenditures: Healthcare by Age: from Age 25 to 34 (CXUHEALTHLB0403M) from 1984 to 2023 about healthcare, age, 25 years +, health, expenditures, and USA.

The HCUP Summary Trend Tables include monthly information on hospital utilization derived from the HCUP State Inpatient Databases (SID) and HCUP State Emergency Department Databases (SEDD). Information on emergency department (ED) utilization is dependent on availability of HCUP data; not all HCUP Partners participate in the SEDD. The HCUP Summary Trend Tables include downloadable Microsoft® Excel tables with information on the following topics: Overview of monthly trends in inpatient and emergency department utilization All inpatient encounter types Inpatient stays by priority conditions -COVID-19 -Influenza -Other acute or viral respiratory infection Inpatient encounter type -Normal newborns -Deliveries -Non-elective inpatient stays, admitted through the ED -Non-elective inpatient stays, not admitted through the ED -Elective inpatient stays Inpatient service line -Maternal and neonatal conditions -Mental health and substance use disorders -Injuries -Surgeries -Other medical conditions Emergency department treat-and-release visits Emergency department treat-and-release visits by priority conditions -COVID-19 -Influenza -Other acute or viral respiratory infection Description of the data source, methodology, and clinical criteria

The retirement healthcare cost index compares the estimated cost of healthcare at retirement against expected social security benefits (before taxes) throughout retirement. The retirement healthcare cost index for a healthy 65-year-old- couple retiring in 2023 in the U.S. is estimated to be **** percent in the first year. In the next ten years, it is projected to rise to ** percent, and by the end of their lives, it is most likely to offset their social security payments.

View monthly updates and historical trends for US Health Care Inflation Rate. from United States. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics. Track economic data …

In the U.S. many employers pay a portion of health care costs for employees. As of 2019, the total annual medical costs for employees was just over 13 thousand U.S. dollars. That cost is expected to increase to 13.7 thousand U.S. dollars by 2020. There have been recent changes to employer-offered health care through the Affordable Care Act that requires employers with over 50 employees to offer affordable health care options to their employees.

U.S. health benefits at work

In the United States, both employers and employees may pay health care costs, depending on the work. In a recent survey U.S. residents were asked what benefits they expected from their employers, a vast majority of them said that they expect health care benefits. Despite the demand from employer-sponsored healthcare coverage, not all companies feel that they would be able to offer health coverage as an employment benefit. Another recent survey has illustrated that employer confidence in offering health insurance can change dramatically from year-to-year.

U.S. sick leave benefits

Another aspect of workplace health and wellness, is annual sick leave. In general, a majority of U.S. workers have access to a fixed number of paid sick days per year. However, a very small proportion of employees had access to paid sick leave as needed. As of 2017, around half of all employees utilized up to 5 days of sick leave per year. Despite that, there was still a large proportion, especially among those aged 18-30 years that went to work even though they were ill.

Historical dataset showing Italy healthcare spending per capita by year from 2000 to 2023.

The average for 2021 based on 186 countries was 1368.8 U.S. dollars. The highest value was in the USA: 11999.09 U.S. dollars and the lowest value was in Somalia: 14.63 U.S. dollars. The indicator is available from 2000 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Historical dataset showing Central America healthcare spending per capita by year from N/A to N/A.

Historical dataset showing Kosovo healthcare spending per capita by year from N/A to N/A.

This dataset identifies health care spending at medical services such as hospitals, physicians, clinics, and nursing homes etc. as well as for medical products such as medicine, prescription glasses and hearing aids. This dataset pertains to personal health care spending in general. Other datasets in this series include Medicaid personal health care spending and Medicare personal health care spending.

The public and private per capita health expenditure differs significantly by country. As of 2024, 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 2023 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 2023 being the most expensive year for health care on record.

Graph and download economic data for Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Medical Care in U.S. City Average (CPIMEDSL) from Jan 1947 to Sep 2025 about medical, urban, consumer, CPI, inflation, price index, indexes, price, and USA.

Dataset Overview

This dataset presents a focused snapshot of Primary Health Care (PHC) Expenditure per Capita across 114 countries. The data spans from 2016 to 2022, though not all years are represented for each country. It reflects the financial commitment of nations to primary health care, providing a basis for comparative analysis of health spending priorities and trends over time.

Data Science Applications

Despite its modest size, this dataset is ripe for exploratory data analysis, trend analysis, and cross-country comparisons. It can be used to model health expenditure growth, forecast future spending, and identify outliers. Data scientists can also merge it with other datasets to study correlations between PHC expenditure and health outcomes or economic indicators.

Column Descriptors

• Countries: The nation to which the data pertains.
• Indicators: Specifies the type of data, here it's PHC Expenditure per Capita.
• 2016 - 2022: Yearly expenditure data in US dollars. Note that not all countries have data for each year.

Ethically Collected Data

The data was sourced from the WHO's publicly available Global Health Expenditure Database, ensuring ethical collection and sharing practices. It adheres to international standards for health data transparency and accessibility.

Acknowledgements

I extend my gratitude to the United Nations and its specialized agencies for compiling and maintaining the health expenditure data and to Dall E3 for enhancing my dataset presentation with relevant imagery.

In 2023, of the total 4.9 trillion U.S. dollars spent on U.S. health care expenditure, 31.2 percent went to hospital care, while 9.2 percent was spent on prescription drugs. The share of national expenditure on hospitals has been relatively stable, except being slightly lower during the pandemic. This statistic shows the distribution of national health care expenditure in the U.S. from 2015 to 2023, by category.