The Cost of Healthcare Index analyzes and compares healthcare expenditure and costs in different countries, with a focus on general healthcare, Covid healthcare, insurance expenditure and medicine prices.
Our objective at Medical Web Experts is to make high quality healthcare available digitally. The pandemic has put healthcare systems around the world under tremendous pressure, and with this in mind, we decided to undertake an analysis of the healthcare offering in different countries to compare the cost and accessibility of medical treatment. Through this, we aim to reveal which countries are excelling in certain areas and can provide models of excellence for other countries to take inspiration from.
We started the index by assessing levels of expenditure on healthcare in each country. To do this, we looked at annual healthcare expenditure per capita, including costs related to social security, inpatient and outpatient care, and medical products. We then calculated the share of the population in each country that has easy access to essential health services.
Following this, we analyzed the insurance landscape in each country. Firstly, we calculated the amount of the total health expenditure in each country that stems from voluntary health insurance schemes. We then quantified how much citizens contribute to the healthcare system through taxation and compulsory health insurance.
After this, we researched the cost of healthcare services in each country. We began by looking at the amount that households spend directly on healthcare products and services. Next, we researched how much it costs to treat a Covid patient in intensive care in each country. Then, we identified the annual cost of general outpatient care per capita. Finally, we analyzed the cost of a range of medicines in each country.
The index reveals and compares the cost of regular and Covid-related healthcare in different countries around the world.
You can filter each factor from highest to lowest and vice versa by clicking on the icon above each column. To view the data sources and a full explanation of how each factor was calculated, please see the methodology at the bottom of the page. Gaps in the data indicate a lack of available or reliable data.
.svg){kind=icon}
.svg){kind=icon}
.svg){kind=icon}
| Expenditure & Access | Insurance Contributions | Costs | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 | USA | 10,921 | 84 | 6.00% | 700.62% | 222.45% | 20,939 | 1309.48% | 3270.94% |
| 2 | Switzerland | 9,666 | 83 | 7.95% | 472.16% | 538.38% | 9,297 | 143.00% | 812.96% |
| 3 | Norway | 8,007 | 87 | 0.32% | 509.22% | 189.82% | 11,590 | 49.60% | 265.19% |
| 4 | Iceland | 6,275 | 84 | 1.64% | 361.08% | 153.26% | 4,942 | 134.68% | 476.61% |
| 5 | Luxembourg | 6,221 | 83 | 4.12% | 368.53% | 55.87% | 7,973 | 51.99% | 241.53% |
| 6 | Denmark | 6,003 | 81 | 2.55% | 343.26% | 122.19% | 8,960 | 91.89% | 166.13% |
| 7 | Sweden | 5,671 | 86 | 1.23% | 326.77% | 105.48% | 7,354 | 4.62% | 126.95% |
| 8 | Germany | 5,440 | 83 | 2.70% | 308.07% | 80.42% | 5,039 | 138.10% | 78.90% |
| 9 | Ireland | 5,429 | 76 | 13.70% | 258.95% | 66.06% | 5,863 | -13.42% | 156.73% |
| 10 | Australia | 5,427 | 87 | 14.35% | 235.20% | 126.37% | 3,465 | 35.87% | 421.17% |
| 11 | Netherlands | 5,335 | 86 | 6.79% | 290.87% | 47.26% | 4,669 | -33.32% | 113.64% |
| 12 | Austria | 5,242 | 79 | 7.10% | 249.65% | 142.04% | 2,945 | 44.37% | 78.16% |
| 13 | Canada | 5,048 | 89 | 14.92% | 214.01% | 96.61% | 4,294 | 53.33% | 186.83% |
| 14 | Belgium | 4,960 | 84 | 5.02% | 237.77% | 135.25% | 3,537 | 44.88% | 225.27% |
| 15 | France | 4,492 | 78 | 7.03% | 233.33% | 8.62% | 3,138 | -15.30% | 277.75% |
| 16 | Finland | 4,450 | 78 | 4.72% | 207.00% | 102.87% | 3,764 | 22.63% | 124.73% |
| 17 | Japan | 4,360 | 83 | 3.23% | 224.20% | 47.00% | 3,958 | 60.67% | 579.36% |
| 18 | UK | 4,313 | 87 | 5.61% | 200.18% | 78.85% | 2,023 | 35.46% | 175.74% |
| 19 | New Zealand | 4,211 | 87 | 7.43% | 199.82% | 34.73% | 3,834 | -36.52% | -25.18% |
| 20 | Israel | 3,456 | 82 | 12.15% | 98.49% | 89.30% | 6,627 | 97.28% | 78.66% |
| 21 | Italy | 2,906 | 82 | 2.75% | 90.43% | 76.76% | 2,872 | 46.15% | 398.25% |
| 22 | Spain | 2,711 | 83 | 7.56% | 69.77% | 54.31% | 3,943 | 7.55% | 73.72% |
| 23 | Singapore | 2,633 | 86 | 14.62% | 28.90% | 107.31% | 1,319 | 90.16% | 16.81% |
| 24 | South Korea | 2,625 | 86 | 8.76% | 41.84% | 107.31% | 1,794 | 32.09% | 371.64% |
| 25 | Malta | 2,532 | 82 | 2.25% | 41.67% | 128.98% | 3,470 | 30.02% | 147.65% |
| 26 | Portugal | 2,221 | 82 | 8.55% | 20.12% | 76.50% | 6,884 | -0.34% | -66.49% |
| 27 | Slovenia | 2,219 | 79 | 15.55% | 43.17% | -32.38% | 3,072 | 24.97% | 61.89% |
| 28 | Cyprus | 1,996 | 78 | 12.93% | 0.00% | 59.27% | 2,933 | 15.17% | 137.30% |
| 29 | Czechia | 1,844 | 76 | 4.07% | 33.78% | -31.85% | 2,178 | 14.10% | -15.73% |
| 30 | UAE | 1,843 | 76 | 9.44% | 27.22% | -39.95% | 1,688 | 66.95% | 419.69% |
| 31 | Estonia | 1,599 | 75 | 1.56% | 5.59% | 0.00% | 1,853 | 12.41% | 44.89% |
| 32 | Greece | 1,501 | 75 | 4.93% | -20.48% | 37.86% | 1,010 | 5.23% | 57.46% |
| 33 | Chile | 1,376 | 70 | 6.61% | -26.06% | 17.75% | 5,965 | 138.12% | -67.12% |
| 34 | Lithuania | 1,370 | 73 | 1.31% | -19.41% | 15.40% | 1,889 | -7.07% | -19.42% |
| 35 | Slovakia | 1,342 | 77 | 1.04% | -5.05% | -32.90% | 2,038 | -31.26% | -40.86% |
| 36 | Latvia | 1,167 | 71 | 3.60% | -37.06% | 8.36% | 1,227 | 13.64% | -54.91% |
| 37 | Hungary | 1,062 | 74 | 3.48% | -35.64% | -21.93% | 1,728 | -19.24% | -45.30% |
| 38 | Croatia | 1,040 | 71 | 6.63% | -24.47% | -68.93% | 2,791 | 7.13% | -60.08% |
| 39 | Poland | 1,014 | 75 | 8.09% | -35.46% | -46.74% | 1,721 | -41.70% | 2.75% |
| 40 | Argentina | 946 | 76 | 9.73% | -47.52% | -31.59% | 798 | 21.96% | -83.83% |
| 41 | Brazil | 853 | 79 | 31.18% | -69.06% | -44.65% | 375 | 33.08% | -46.77% |
| 42 | Romania | 739 | 74 | 0.68% | -47.34% | -63.71% | 1,211 | 4.22% | -71.91% |
| 43 | Bulgaria | 698 | 66 | 1.58% | -62.50% | -31.07% | 700 | -21.59% | -50.47% |
| 44 | Russia | 653 | 75 | 2.30% | -64.54% | -37.60% | 1,691 | -0.75% | -1.68% |
| 45 | South Africa | 547 | 69 | 46.07% | -76.68% | -91.91% | 1,390 | -14.71% | -14.99% |
| 46 | Mexico | 540 | 76 | 8.52% | -76.42% | -40.47% | 3,409 | 153.92% | -49.73% |
| 47 | China | 535 | 79 | 8.60% | -73.40% | -50.65% | 2,506 | 62.36% | -62.98% |
| 48 | Colombia | 495 | 76 | 7.68% | -65.96% | -80.68% | 496 | 106.42% | -76.60% |
| 49 | Malaysia | 437 | 73 | 13.04% | -79.70% | -60.57% | 1,499 | 51.41% | -39.38% |
| 50 | Turkey | 396 | 74 | 5.30% | -72.61% | -82.51% | 92 | -70.21% | 1.68% |
| 51 | Thailand | 296 | 80 | 16.55% | -80.41% | -93.21% | 1,313 | -32.03% | -29.77% |
| 52 | Georgia | 291 | 66 | 14.09% | -89.89% | -64.49% | n/a | -5.88% | -76.34% |
| 53 | Vietnam | 181 | 75 | 12.15% | -92.91% | -79.63% | n/a | -9.63% | -72.65% |
| 54 | Morocco | 174 | 70 | 2.30% | -92.11% | -78.59% | 109 | -7.87% | -78.56% |
| 55 | Indonesia | 120 | 57 | 16.67% | -94.77% | -89.30% | 4,909 | -0.18% | -80.46% |
| 56 | Kenya | 83 | 55 | 28.92% | -96.45% | -94.78% | 570 | -67.80% | -77.08% |
| 57 | Ghana | 75 | 47 | 18.67% | -96.99% | -92.95% | n/a | -10.55% | -74.87% |
| 58 | Nigeria | 71 | 42 | 11.27% | -98.85% | -86.95% | n/a | -9.40% | -91.87% |
| 59 | Laos | 68 | 51 | 2.94% | -96.63% | -92.43% | n/a | -10.86% | -82.26% |
| 60 | India | 64 | 55 | 10.94% | -98.14% | -90.86% | 302 | -43.72% | -93.35% |
The Cost of Healthcare Index analyzes and compares healthcare expenditure, health insurance schemes and the cost of caring for emergency inpatients and general outpatients in different countries around the world. The data was collected from open sources and official data banks. The index aims to show levels of healthcare expenditure from before and after the Covid-19 outbreak, as well as the costs of essential care and medicines during the pandemic. It was conducted by Medical Web Experts in partnership with Bridge Patient Portal.
Every country in the world was studied, before the final list was cut to 60 countries which have reliable and comparable data.
Each country’s total expenditure on healthcare per capita in 2019 in USD. Types of expenditure include healthcare goods and services such as social security contributions, inpatient and outpatient care, and medical goods.
A score that represents how much of a country’s population has easy access to essential health services. Examples of essential health services include: reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health, infectious diseases, and non-communicable diseases. Data on service capacity and access among the general and most disadvantaged population was also included. A higher score indicates greater coverage.
.svg){kind=icon}
The percentage of each country’s total spending on healthcare which comes from voluntary, private sources. This includes all prepaid healthcare financing schemes such as voluntary health insurance, ‘non-profit institution serving households’ (NPISH) financing schemes and enterprise financing schemes (where companies directly provide or finance health services for their employees).
The percentage was calculated as follows:
Voluntary health insurance scheme (USD per capita)
Total healthcare expenditure (USD per capita)
An assessment of the overall contribution citizens make to health care schemes through taxation and compulsory health insurance, presented as a deviation from the dataset median. A high value indicates a high price level; a low value indicates a low price level. Values close to zero indicate the price level is close to the international median.
This figure incorporates all financing schemes aimed at ensuring access to basic health care for citizens, including government schemes (GS) and compulsory health insurance schemes (CHS), for example social health insurance, compulsory private insurance and compulsory medical savings accounts.
The percentage was calculated as follows:
(GS (USD per capita) + CHS (USD per capita))
Median of all (GS+CHS)
An assessment of the overall contribution households directly make from their primary income or savings towards healthcare goods and services, through standalone payments or co-payments, presented as a deviation from the dataset median.
The percentage was calculated as follows:
Out of Pocket (OOP) Spending (USD per capita)
Median of all OOP spending
The average overall cost of a single Covid emergency night, which is defined as a patient in critical condition in an ICU station with mechanical ventilation activated, in US dollars. Additionally, this cost includes laboratory analysis, drugs and fluids, disposable protective materials, care and nutrition, as well as nurse and physician labor costs. For each country, costs were collected in the local currency from a range of dedicated scientific papers and news reports from April 2020 through November 2021, and then averaged. Currency conversions into USD used the average exchange rate from 1/11/2021 through 1/12/2021.
The average cost per dose of 13 common medicines (branded and generic), including those used to treat diabetes, cardiovascular disease and asthma, among others. Prices were collected from online pharmacies, government websites and information portals in each country. The average price level was calculated for each medicine. These price levels were then averaged and expressed as a deviation from the dataset median. The full list of medicines is available on request.
The percentage was calculated as follows:
The average cost of general outpatient care per capita in each country, presented as a deviation from the dataset median. Outpatient care is defined as medical procedures, tests and services that are provided to a patient in an ambulatory setting without requiring an overnight stay. These services include general and specialized doctor consultations, blood and urine tests, x-rays and scans.
The percentage was calculated as follows:
