Medical Web Experts

The Cost of Healthcare Index

The Cost of Healthcare Index

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.

Instructions for journalists

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.

Expenditure & Access
  • Total Healthcare Expenditure Per Capita (GBP)
  • Access to Universal Healthcare (Score)
Insurance Contributions
  • Voluntary Health Insurance as Share of Total Health Expenditure
  • Taxation + Compulsory Health Insurance Per Capita - Deviation From the Median
Costs
  • Out of Pocket Healthcare Spending - Deviation From the Median
  • Average Cost of a Covid Emergency Night (GBP)
  • Average Medicine Price Level - Deviation from the Median
  • Average Cost of General Outpatient Care Per Capita - Deviation From the Median

International Results

Expenditure & Access Insurance Contributions Costs
Country
1 USA 8,124 84 6.00% 700.62% 222.45% 15,576 1309.48% 3270.94%
2 Norway 5,956 87 0.32% 509.22% 189.82% 8,622 49.60% 265.19%
3 Switzerland 7,191 83 7.95% 472.16% 538.38% 6,916 143.00% 812.96%
4 Denmark 4,466 81 2.55% 343.26% 122.19% 6,665 91.89% 166.13%
5 Luxembourg 4,628 83 4.12% 368.53% 55.87% 5,931 149.93% 241.53%
6 Sweden 4,219 86 1.23% 326.77% 105.48% 5,471 4.62% 126.95%
7 Portugal 1,652 82 8.55% 20.12% 76.50% 5,121 -0.34% -66.49%
8 Israel 2,571 82 12.15% 98.49% 89.30% 4,930 97.28% 78.66%
9 Chile 1,024 70 6.61% -26.06% 17.75% 4,437 138.12% -67.12%
10 Ireland 4,039 76 13.70% 258.95% 66.06% 4,361 -13.42% 156.73%
11 Germany 4,047 83 2.70% 308.07% 80.42% 3,749 138.10% 78.90%
12 Iceland 4,668 84 1.64% 361.08% 153.26% 3,676 134.68% 476.61%
13 Indonesia 89 57 16.67% -94.77% -89.30% 3,652 -0.18% -80.46%
14 Netherlands 3,969 86 6.79% 290.87% 47.26% 3,473 -33.32% 113.64%
15 Canada 3,755 89 14.92% 214.01% 96.61% 3,194 53.33% 186.83%
16 Japan 3,243 83 3.23% 224.20% 47.00% 2,944 60.67% 579.36%
17 Spain 2,017 83 7.56% 69.77% 54.31% 2,934 7.55% 73.72%
18 New Zealand 3,133 87 7.43% 199.82% 34.73% 2,852 -36.52% -25.18%
19 Finland 3,310 78 4.72% 207.00% 102.87% 2,800 22.63% 124.73%
20 Belgium 3,690 84 5.02% 237.77% 135.25% 2,631 44.88% 225.27%
21 Malta 1,884 82 2.25% 41.67% 128.98% 2,581 65.06% 147.65%
22 Australia 4,037 87 14.35% 235.20% 126.37% 2,577 35.87% 421.17%
23 Mexico 402 76 8.52% -76.42% -40.47% 2,536 153.92% -49.73%
24 France 3,342 78 7.03% 233.33% 8.62% 2,334 -15.30% 277.75%
25 Slovenia 1,651 79 15.55% 43.17% -32.38% 2,285 45.55% 61.89%
26 Austria 3,900 79 7.10% 249.65% 142.04% 2,191 44.37% 78.16%
27 Cyprus 1,485 78 12.93% 0.00% 59.27% 2,182 7.70% 137.30%
28 Italy 2,162 82 2.75% 90.43% 76.76% 2,137 46.15% 398.25%
29 Croatia 774 71 6.63% -24.47% -68.93% 2,077 -23.35% -60.08%
30 China 398 79 8.60% -73.40% -50.65% 1,864 62.36% -62.98%
31 Czechia 1,372 76 4.07% 33.78% -31.85% 1,620 15.98% -15.73%
32 Slovakia 998 77 1.04% -5.05% -32.90% 1,516 -31.26% -40.86%
33 UK 3,208 87 5.61% 200.18% 78.85% 1,505 0.44% 175.74%
34 Lithuania 1,019 73 1.31% -19.41% 15.40% 1,406 -7.07% -19.42%
35 Estonia 1,189 75 1.56% 5.59% 0.00% 1,379 -2.95% 44.89%
36 South Korea 1,953 86 8.76% 41.84% 107.31% 1,335 -23.13% 371.64%
37 Hungary 790 74 3.48% -35.64% -21.93% 1,286 -19.24% -45.30%
38 Poland 754 75 8.09% -35.46% -46.74% 1,280 -41.70% 2.75%
39 Russia 486 75 2.30% -64.54% -37.60% 1,258 40.72% -1.68%
40 UAE 1,371 76 9.44% 27.22% -39.95% 1,256 66.95% 419.69%
41 Malaysia 325 73 13.04% -79.70% -60.57% 1,115 51.41% -39.38%
42 South Africa 407 69 46.07% -76.68% -91.91% 1,034 -14.71% -14.99%
43 Singapore 1,959 86 14.62% 28.90% 107.31% 981 90.16% 16.81%
44 Thailand 220 80 16.55% -80.41% -93.21% 977 -32.03% -29.77%
45 Latvia 868 71 3.60% -37.06% 8.36% 913 1.78% -54.91%
46 Romania 550 74 0.68% -47.34% -63.71% 901 -34.59% -71.91%
47 Greece 1,117 75 4.93% -20.48% 37.86% 751 5.23% 57.46%
48 Argentina 704 76 9.73% -47.52% -31.59% 594 21.96% -83.83%
49 Bulgaria 519 66 1.58% -62.50% -31.07% 521 -21.59% -50.47%
50 Kenya 62 55 28.92% -96.45% -94.78% 424 -67.80% -77.08%
51 Colombia 368 76 7.68% -65.96% -80.68% 369 106.42% -76.60%
52 Brazil 635 79 31.18% -69.06% -44.65% n/a 33.08% -46.77%
53 India 48 55 10.94% -98.14% -90.86% n/a -43.72% -93.35%
54 Morocco 129 70 2.30% -92.11% -78.59% 81 -81.31% -78.56%
55 Turkey 295 74 5.30% -72.61% -82.51% 68 -70.21% 1.68%
56 Georgia 216 66 14.09% -89.89% -64.49% n/a -73.62% -76.34%
57 Vietnam 135 75 12.15% -92.91% -79.63% n/a -88.11% -72.65%
58 Ghana 56 47 18.67% -96.99% -92.95% n/a -91.65% -74.87%
59 Nigeria 53 42 11.27% -98.85% -86.95% n/a -87.22% -91.87%
60 Laos 51 51 2.94% -96.63% -92.43% n/a -92.84% -82.26%

Methodology

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.

Country Selection

Every country in the world was studied, before the final list was cut to 60 countries which have reliable and comparable data.

Factors

  • Total Healthcare Expenditure Per Capita (GBP)

    Each country’s total expenditure on healthcare per capita in 2019 in GBP. Types of expenditure include healthcare goods and services such as social security contributions, inpatient and outpatient care, and medical goods.

    Source:WHO.
  • Access to Universal Healthcare (Score)

    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.

    Source: IMF.

Insurance Contributions

  • Voluntary Health Insurance as Share of Total Health Expenditure

    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 (GBP per capita)

    Total healthcare expenditure (GBP per capita)

    Source: WHO.
  • Taxation & Compulsory Health Insurance Per Capita - Deviation from the Median

    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 (GBP per capita) + CHS (GBP per capita))

    Median of all (GS+CHS)

    Source: WHO.

Costs

  • Out of Pocket Healthcare Spending Per Capita - Deviation from the Median

    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 (GBP per capita)

    Median of all OOP spending

    Source: WHO.
  • Average Cost of a Covid Emergency Night (GBP)

    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.

    Sources: scientific journals; local news.
  • Average Medicine Price Level - Deviation from the Median

    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:

    Sources: data portals, government websites, online pharmacies.
  • Average Cost of General Outpatient Care Per Capita - Deviation from the Median

    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:

    Sources: manual data collection; OECD; WHO.