Growing health spending puts pressure on government budgets, according to OECD Health Data 2010

1 July 2010

In all Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries total spending on healthcare is rising faster than economic growth, pushing the average ratio of health spending to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 7.8% in 2000 to 9.0% in 2008. Factors pushing health spending up - technological change, population expectations and population ageing - will continue to drive cost higher in the future.

In some countries, according to the new report from the OECD Health Data 2010 report, the recent economic downturn, with GDP falling and health care costs rising, led to a sharp increase in the ratio of health spending to GDP. In Ireland, the percentage of GDP devoted to health increased from 7.5% in 2007 to 8.7% in 2008. In Spain, it rose from 8.4% to 9.0%.

The USA spent $7,538 per person on health in 2008, well over double the $3,000 average of all OECD countries. However, a separate study recently put the USA as having the worst health system, despite its higher spending (The Pharma Letter June 24). The next biggest spenders, Norway and Switzerland, spent much less than the USA per capita but still some 50% more than the OECD average.

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