A combination of slower growth in spending on healthcare and expanding economies has led to a stabilisation of health spending as a proportion of GDP in many OECD countries, according to OECD Health Data 2008.


In 2006, the latest year for which comparable data are available, health spending on average across OECD countries grew in real terms by just over 3%, the lowest rate since 1997. Looking at the trend during this decade, health expenditure grew rapidly in many countries between 2000 and 2003, with an annual average growth rate of 6.2% over that period. Since 2003, the rise in health expenditure has slowed, however, to an average of 3.6% per year.

The health expenditure share of GDP on average across OECD countries remained unchanged in 2006 compared with 2005, at 8.9%. In several countries, the percentage of GDP devoted to health actually fell slightly between 2005 and 2006, while in others it stabilised. Overall, this marked a pause in a long-term rising trend that has seen health spending rise from 6.6% of GDP on average in OECD countries in 1980.

In many countries, slower growth in health spending in recent years has been aided by a slowing in the growth of pharmaceutical spending. In 2006, pharmaceutical spending on average across OECD countries increased by only 2% in real terms, compared with growth rates of 6% to 7% per year between 2000 and 2003 and 3% to 3.5% per year over 2004 and 2005.

Public spending on prescription drugs in the United States increased by 30% in 2006, because of the introduction of the new Medicare drug programme for the elderly and the disabled. This increase in public spending was partly offset by a reduction of 4% in private spending for prescribed drugs. The public share of pharmaceutical spending increased from 24% in 2005 to 30% in 2006, but it is still the second lowest share among OECD countries. Overall, in the United States, drug spending rose by 4.5% in real terms in 2006 after a 2.2% increase in 2005.

The United States led in terms of total drug expenditure per capita, including both prescribed and non-prescribed drugs at US$843 per person in 2006, followed by Canada, Belgium and France. At the other end of the scale, Mexico, Poland, Denmark and New Zealand spent the least, with spending ranging from US$182 per person in Mexico to US$303 in New Zealand. Variations in drug spending across countries reflect differences in prices and consumption as well as how fast and widely new and often more expensive drugs are put on the market.