Health
Health Expenditure
|
After jumping substantially in 2020, OECD spending on health as a share of GDP is not expected to have increased further in 2021, despite health spending growth accelerating. This is as a result of the strong economic recovery in many OECD countries in 2021. Preliminary estimates for a group of 20 countries suggest that health spending increased by around 6% on average in 2021, according to the database OECD Health Statistics 2022, updated in November 2022. A System of Health Accounts (SHA, revised edition March 2017) provides a standard framework for producing a set of comprehensive, consistent and internationally comparable accounts to meet the needs of public and private sector health analysts and policy-makers. |
|
WHAT’S NEW - LATEST TRENDS IN OECD HEALTH SPENDING
|
Latest OECD estimates point to average health expenditure growth of 5% in 2020, driven by the exceptionally high growth in spending by government and compulsory schemes (+8.1%) in response to the additional needs to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Private spending, on the other hand, fell on average by more than 3%. As a result of the substantial spending growth and the widespread economic downturn, health spending as a share of GDP jumped to 9.7% across OECD countries in 2020, up from 8.8% in 2019. Preliminary estimates for a group of 20 OECD countries suggest that health spending continued to grow strongly in 2021 – by around 6%. Yet, as economies recovered globally in 2021, the proportion of health spending in GDP is not expected to have grown further in 2021. In many countries, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed a lack of resilience of health systems and additional financing is required to provide countries with the agility to respond to future crises. Generally, there is a need to protect underlying population health, fortify the foundations of health systems, and bolster health workers on the frontline. However, this raises concerns about the fiscal sustainability of health systems in the long-run. The publication Fiscal Sustainability of Health Systems: Bridging Health and Finance Perspectives provides a detailed overview of institutional frameworks for financing health care in OECD countries. It offers a comprehensive mapping of budgeting practices and governance structures in health across OECD countries. |
Note: Based on 20 countries providing preliminary estimates of health spending for 2021. |
KEY publication: A SYSTEM OF HEALTH ACCOUNTS
The OECD Manual A System of Health Accounts (SHA) provides a standard framework for producing a set of comprehensive, consistent and internationally comparable accounts to meet the needs of public and private-sector health analysts and policy-makers. The SHA manual establishes a conceptual basis of statistical reporting rules that are compatible with other economic and social statistics.
Note that the revised edition was released on March 16, 2017.
Related reading material:
- Guidelines for Accounting Long-Term Care Expenditure under SHA 2011 - March 2018 version
- Guidelines to Measure Expenditure on Over-the-Counter (OTC) Drugs
- Expenditure on Prevention Activities under SHA 2011: Supplementary Guidance - March 2017 version
- Guidelines to Improve Estimates of Expenditure on Health Administration and Health Insurance
- Guidelines for the Implementation of the SHA 2011 Framework for Accounting Health Care Financing - January 2014 version
- Guidelines for Improving the Comparability and Availability of Private Health Expenditures
- Feasibility and Challenges of Reporting Factors of Provision in SHA 2011
- Implementing the Capital Account under SHA 2011
- Improving Estimates of Exports and Imports of Health Services and Goods
PUBLICATIONS AND PROJECTS RELATED TO HEALTH EXPENDITURE
- Understanding differences in health expenditure between the United States and OECD countries - Brief, September 2022
- Investing in health systems to protect society and boost the economy - Priority investments and order-of-magnitude cost estimates, OECD Health Working Paper No. 145, July 2022
- Improving data on pharmaceutical expenditure in hospitals and other health care settings, OECD Health Working Paper No. 139, April 2022
- Private Health Insurance Spending - Brief, March 2022
- Chapter 7 on Health Expenditure in Health at a Glance 2021: OECD Indicators (November 2021)
- Pricing long-term care for older persons, WHO Centre for Health Development (Kobe, Japan), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Barber, Sarah L, van Gool, Kees, Wise, Sarah. et al., August 2021. Access Country case studies and policy briefs, Interviews with authors, and all background material.
- Spending on Long-term Care - Brief, November 2020
- Assessing the Comparability of Long-Term Care Spending Estimates under the Joint Health Accounts Questionnaire - Technical Paper, May 2020
- Health Care Prices - Policy Brief, May 2020
- Public funding of health care - Policy Brief, February 2020
- Out-of-pocket Spending: Access to Care and Financial Protection - Policy Brief, April 2019
- Spending on Primary Care: First Estimates - Policy Brief, December 2018
- OECD Manual: A System of Health Accounts 2011 (revised edition March 16, 2017)
- Estimating Expenditure by Disease, Age and Gender
- Health care prices and Purchasing Power Parities
- International Trade in Health Services
- An OECD Analysis of Health Spending in Norway (Health Working Paper No. 91)
- Public Expenditure Projections for Health and Long-Term Care for China Until 2030 (Health Working Paper No. 84)
- Towards Measuring the Volume Output of Education and Health Services: A Handbook (Statistics Directorate Working Paper No. 31)
- Learn more about the OECD Joint Network of Senior Budget and Health Officials
COntacts FOR HEALTH EXPENDITURE
For more information, please contact us at [email protected].
Follow us on Twitter @OECD_Social
Related Documents