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.

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.

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.

In 2024, the United States had the ******* 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 ************** per capita health expenditure. Norway, Germany and, the Netherlands 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 2023, total health expenditure in the U.S. came close to **** trillion dollars. Expenditure as a percentage of GDP is projected to increase to approximately ** percent by the year 2033. 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 2023, 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.

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

In 2020, the total personal healthcare cost per person for women and men aged 85 years and above in the U.S., amounted to ****** U.S. dollars and ****** U.S. dollars respectively. This statistic depicts the total personal healthcare spending per person in the U.S. in 2020, by gender and age.

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 Per Capita Personal Consumption Expenditures: Services: Health Care for Idaho (IDPCEPCHLTHCARE) from 1997 to 2024 about healthcare, ID, health, PCE, consumption expenditures, per capita, consumption, personal, services, and USA.

The average for 2021 based on 19 countries was 3215.44 U.S. dollars. The highest value was in the USA: 11999.09 U.S. dollars and the lowest value was in India: 75.55 U.S. dollars. The indicator is available from 2000 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Graph and download economic data for Per Capita Personal Consumption Expenditures: Services: Health Care for Massachusetts (MAPCEPCHLTHCARE) from 1997 to 2024 about healthcare, MA, health, PCE, consumption expenditures, per capita, consumption, personal, services, and USA.

In 2020, the average out-of-pocket (OOP) per person spending on healthcare services by women aged 85 years and above in the U.S. amounted to ***** U.S. dollars. The per-person healthcare expenditure increased exponentially for the women in the oldest age group. In the same year, the total per-person expenditure on personal healthcare by women was also the highest in the same age group, it amounted to ****** U.S. dollars per individual.

In 2020, the average out-of-pocket (OOP) spending on healthcare services per person in the U.S. for women amounted to ***** U.S. dollars, and for men, was ***** U.S. dollars. During the provided time interval, women on average spend approximately ************* U.S. dollars more than men OOP annually on healthcare services.

Graph and download economic data for Per Capita Personal Consumption Expenditures: Services: Health Care for New York (NYPCEPCHLTHCARE) from 1997 to 2024 about healthcare, health, NY, PCE, consumption expenditures, per capita, consumption, personal, services, and USA.

Context

This indicator calculates the average expenditure on health per person. It contributes to understand the health expenditure relative to the population size facilitating international comparison. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines current health spending as:

Health spending measures the final consumption of health care goods and services (i.e. current health expenditure) including personal health care (curative care, rehabilitative care, long-term care, ancillary services and medical goods) and collective services (prevention and public health services as well as health administration), but excluding spending on investments. Health care is financed through a mix of financing arrangements including government spending and compulsory health insurance (“Government/compulsory”) as well as voluntary health insurance and private funds such as households’ out-of-pocket payments, NGOs and private corporations (“Voluntary”). This indicator is presented as a total and by type of financing (“Government/compulsory”, “Voluntary”, “Out-of-pocket”) and is measured as a share of GDP, as a share of total health spending and in USD per capita (using economy-wide PPPs).

OECD (2020), Health spending (indicator). doi: 10.1787/8643de7e-en (Accessed on 19 September 2020)

Historical dataset showing Virgin Islands (U.S.) healthcare spending per capita by year from N/A to N/A.

Graph and download economic data for Per Capita Personal Consumption Expenditures: Services: Health Care for Florida (FLPCEPCHLTHCARE) from 1997 to 2024 about healthcare, health, PCE, FL, consumption expenditures, per capita, consumption, personal, services, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Per Capita Personal Consumption Expenditures: Services: Health Care for Maine (MEPCEPCHLTHCARE) from 1997 to 2024 about ME, healthcare, health, PCE, consumption expenditures, per capita, consumption, personal, services, and USA.

Historical dataset showing U.S. healthcare spending per capita by year from 2000 to 2022.

Graph and download economic data for Per Capita Personal Consumption Expenditures: Services: Health Care for United States (USPCEPCHLTHCARE) from 1997 to 2024 about healthcare, health, PCE, consumption expenditures, per capita, consumption, personal, services, and USA.

Average healthcare expenditure per person in the United States.