Zambia allocated 6.62% of its GDP and 9.25% of its total domestic budget to health in 2021. The government contributed 36.59% to the current health expenditure (CHE) through taxes, while donors contributed 49.46% in 2021. Voluntary health insurance accounted for only 0.08% of CHE.
Zambia is committed to achieving its universal health coverage targets by improving access to affordable quality health services. Over the years, out-of-pocket expenditure has declined from 44.93% in 2000 to 7.08% of CHE in 2021. This improvement owes mainly to the successful implementation of universal health insurance, a government pooled financing mechanism, which was implemented in 2018.
