Our World
in Data
Data

Total healthcare expenditure as a share of GDP

What you should know about this indicator

Rationale

Current health expenditure as a share of GDP provides an indication on the level of resources channelled to health relative to other uses. It shows the importance of the health sector in the whole economy and indicates the societal priority which health is given measured in monetary terms.

Definition

Level of Current Health Expenditure expressed as a percentage of GDP

Method of measurement

Current health expenditure (CHE) / Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Method of estimation

-

Total healthcare expenditure as a share of GDP
Level of Current Health Expenditure expressed as a percentage of GDP
Source
World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2024) – processed by Our World in Data
Last updated
January 3, 2024
Next expected update
January 2025
Date range
2000–2021
Unit
%

Related research and writing

A dark blue background with a lighter blue world map superimposed over it. Yellow text that says Global Health by Our World in Data

Global Health

Esteban Ortiz-Ospina and Max Roser
A dark blue background with a lighter blue world map superimposed over it. Yellow text that says Financing Healthcare by Our World in Data

Healthcare Spending

Esteban Ortiz-Ospina and Max Roser

Sources and processing

This data is based on the following sources

The GHO data repository is WHO's gateway to health-related statistics for its 194 Member States. It provides access to over 1000 indicators on priority health topics including mortality and burden of diseases, the Millennium Development Goals (child nutrition, child health, maternal and reproductive health, immunization, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, neglected diseases, water and sanitation), non communicable diseases and risk factors, epidemic-prone diseases, health systems, environmental health, violence and injuries, equity among others.

Retrieved on
January 3, 2024
Retrieved from
https://www.who.int/data/gho
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
World Health Organization. 2024. Global Health Observatory data repository. http://www.who.int/gho/en/. Accessed on 2024-01-03

How we process data at Our World in Data

All data and visualizations on Our World in Data rely on data sourced from one or several original data providers. Preparing this original data involves several processing steps. Depending on the data, this can include standardizing country names and world region definitions, converting units, calculating derived indicators such as per capita measures, as well as adding or adapting metadata such as the name or the description given to an indicator.

At the link below you can find a detailed description of the structure of our data pipeline, including links to all the code used to prepare data across Our World in Data.

Read about our data pipeline

Reuse this work

  • All data produced by third-party providers and made available by Our World in Data are subject to the license terms from the original providers. Our work would not be possible without the data providers we rely on, so we ask you to always cite them appropriately (see below). This is crucial to allow data providers to continue doing their work, enhancing, maintaining and updating valuable data.
  • All data, visualizations, and code produced by Our World in Data are completely open access under the Creative Commons BY license. You have the permission to use, distribute, and reproduce these in any medium, provided the source and authors are credited.

Citations

How to cite this page

To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:

“Data Page: Total healthcare expenditure as a share of GDP”. Our World in Data (2024). Data adapted from World Health Organization. Retrieved from https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/total-healthcare-expenditure-gdp [online resource]
How to cite this data

In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:

World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2024) – processed by Our World in Data

Full citation

World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2024) – processed by Our World in Data. “Total healthcare expenditure as a share of GDP” [dataset]. World Health Organization, “Global Health Observatory” [original data]. Retrieved November 15, 2024 from https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/total-healthcare-expenditure-gdp