Higher EU Health Spending As Expectations Expand

Higher health care expectations and new medical technologies are pushing European Union health care spending upwards both as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product and in absolute terms, according to data released by the EU.

Spending per head of population in terms of purchasing power standards (PPSs), which reflect the real purchasing power of a currency in the country concerned, is 1,937 in Luxembourg, 1,695 in Germany and 1,688 in France. These countries spend almost 1.5 times more per head than the EU average, some twice as much as Spain (892), Ireland (835) or Portugal (783) and around four times more than Greece.

In 1993, the latest year for which data are available, the EU member states spent between 6% and 10% of their GDP on health care. France and Austria spent more than 9%, while Greece and Denmark spent under 7%. Between 1985 and 1993, 11 of the member states spent an increasing proportion of their GDP on health.