Health Services: Expenditure

Department of Health written question – answered at on 8 March 2016.

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Photo of Lord Warner Lord Warner Non-affiliated

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 20 January (HL5278), how the percentage of GDP spent on health compares with that of the EU average and for Germany and France during the last five years.

Photo of Lord Prior of Brampton Lord Prior of Brampton The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health

As European Union countries are characterised by different health systems with varying degrees of private and third sector involvement, a meaningful and fair cross-country comparison needs to consider overall health expenditure (ie. including both public and non-public expenditure).

The table below combines Eurostat and OECD data on current overall health expenditure as a share of Gross Domestic Product from 2009 to 2013 (i.e. five years from the latest data available for most countries). Figures are the United Kingdom rather than England.

Current expenditure on healthcare (all functions) as a share of GDP (all financing agents, all health care providers)

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

France (OECD)

10.9%

10.8%

10.7%

10.8%

10.9%

Germany (OECD)

11.1%

11.0%

10.7%

10.8%

11.0%

United Kingdom (OECD)

8.8%

8.6%

8.5%

8.5%

8.5%

EU28 avg (OECD and Eurostat)1

8.5%

8.4%

8.3%

8.3%

8.4%

EU15 avg (OECD)2

9.6%

9.4%

9.4%

9.5%

9.5%

1Data unavailable for Malta. Croatia included only in 2013 (when it joined the EU). 2013 data from Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Ireland and Luxembourg, 2012 data from Bulgaria, and Latvia and 2011 data from Latvia estimated through a last observation carried forward (LOCF) imputation method.

22013 data from Ireland and Luxembourg estimated through a last observation carried forward (LOCF) imputation method.

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