Equatorial Guinea

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Africa

2.9%CHE/GDP

70.4%OOP/CHE

4.5%GGHE-D/GGE

12BGDP (USD)

1.8MPopulation

In Equatorial Guinea “[b]etween 2013 and 2023, the country registered an average negative 4.2 percent growth per year. … Despite Equatorial Guinea’s upper middle-income status, living standards remain low. Life expectancy at birth is estimated at 60.7 years, compared to 75 years for countries in the same income group. Around 40 percent of households experience at least one day without electricity per month”.^[1]

“The EG [Equatorial Guinea] Health System does not have national health accounts. Thus, health expenditure and income remain unknown making it difficult to develop a budget and adequate allocation of financial resources (MINSABS, República de Guinea Equatorial, 2020)”.

What Equatorial Guinea’s data in the Global Health Expenditure Database show is the health financing system’s reliance on out-of-pocket (OOP) spending. Making up more than 77% of current health expenditure (CHE) in 2021, OOP spending in Equatorial Guinea is among the highest in the world (third highest globally and highest in Africa). However, in 2016 domestic general government expenditure surged, from less than 1.5% in 2015 to up to more than 5% in 2020. Despite the increase in government spending on health care, OOP spending as a percentage of CHE continues to increase.^[2]

“Equatorial Guinea is expected to remain in recession in 2024 (with growth of –4.3 percent) on the back of declining hydro-carbon production and domestic demand. Without significant diversification efforts and progress in structural reforms, declining hydrocarbon production and lower commodity prices are expected to keep impacting the economy with a negative average growth of 3.5 percent in 2025-2026. … Strengthening the social protection system would help protect the most vulnerable and reduce inequities, especially as social spending in Equatorial Guinea was estimated at 1.6 percent of GDP in 2022, three times lower than the West and Central Africa average”.^[1]

References

[1] World Bank, Equatorial Guinea overview

[2] World Health Organization, Global Health Expenditure Database, Indicators and Data (choose country)