The World Health Organization (WHO) has published the 2023 global health expenditure report, which sheds new light on the evolution of global health spending at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Released ahead of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day, the report reveals that in 2021 global spending on health reached a new high of US$ 9.8 trillion or 10.3% of global gross domestic product (GDP). Nevertheless, the distribution of spending remained grossly unequal. Public spending on health had increased across the world, except in low-income countries where government health spending decreased and external health aid played an essential supporting role.
In 2021, about 11% of the world’s population lived in countries that spent less than US$ 50 per person per year, while the average per capita spending on health was around US$ 4,000 in high-income countries. Low-income countries accounted for only 0.24% of global health expenditure, despite having an 8% share of the world’s population.
WHO publishes new data on health spending every year. In recent years, the database has been expanded to include spending categorised by healthcare functions, including spending on primary health care (PHC) in approximately 100 countries. This year, for the first time, WHO also released health expenditure data by health care provider. This aims to help facilitate better understanding of current resource flows and to help shape future investments in health based on a PHC approach.