Health expenditure as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) measures the proportion of a country's economic output spent on health goods and services, providing a way to compare health spending across countries. The measure includes hospital care, physicians' salaries, rehabilitation, long-term care, ancillary services, pharmaceuticals, and medical goods, among others. Another useful measure is health expenditure per capita, which calculates health spending per person and offers a different perspective on how much countries spend on health care.
Each year, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) publishes a report called Health at a Glance that summarizes health spending, performance and other trends across its 38 member countries and select partner nations. Data from the 2025 edition, the most recent version available, shows that OECD members spent an average of 9.3% of GDP on health. Spending varied across countries, ranging from 4% to 17% of GDP.
The United States spends the most on health by a large margin
In 2024, the United States led all OECD countries in health spending by a significant margin, with health expenditures accounting for just over 17% of its gross domestic product (GDP). That is approximately five percentage points higher than Germany, the next biggest spender at approximately 12% of its GDP. Austria, Canada, and Switzerland are among the top five spenders at 11.7%, 11.5%, and 11.3%, respectively. They are followed by a group of 11 countries that spent between 10% and 11% of their GDP on health. Fewer than half of OECD members spent more than 10% of its GDP on healthcare. Turkey spent the least, with healthcare accounting for just 4.9% of its GDP, well below the group average.
Last Updated: October 1, 2026
About Source(s)
Source: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1961 to advise governments on how to deliver better policies for better lives. Its 38 member countries and partners work on key global policy challenges to drive reform worldwide.
Notes: Health spending is the final consumption of health care goods and services. It includes personal health care (such as curative, rehabilitative and long-term care, ancillary services and medical goods) and collective services (such as prevention, public health and health administration), but excludes investment expenditure. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP).
