Norway's 2005 health care spend up 5.4%

Norway's spending on health care reached a total 176.0 billion Norwegian kroner ($28.9 billion) in 2005, a rise of 5.4% on the 167.0 billion kroner expended the year before, reports Statistics Norway.

Health care expenditure in 2005 accounted for 19% of total public spending as against 16% back in 1997. This accounted for just over 9% of Norwegian Gross Domestic Product last year, the figures show.

The Statistics Norway report noted that 83.6% of health spending in the country for 2005 was funded by state sources, which is about the same percentage as in previous years. The report added that spending on pharmaceuticals for out-patients has increased above the average growth in total health spending since 1997. The average annual growth was 7% in real terms, it said.