What Govts Spend On Health Care

Political quibbling over Barack Obama’s health care law shut down the US government for a fortnight. We look at how the American health care system fares against others

Kathakali Chanda
Published: Nov 6, 2013 07:36:16 AM IST
Updated: Oct 30, 2013 05:43:15 PM IST


 

  • 54% of US health spending is private, out of which insurance spend accounts for 59%, one of the highest in the world.
  • With 95% of its total GDP spend on health care, Cuba has the highest government health spending globally. It also logs 67 physicians per 10,000 people, the most in the world.
  • Oil-rich Qatar spends the least on health care, 1.9% of its GDP, next only to 1.6% of South Sudan, the youngest nation.
  • At 60%, India has one of the highest out-of-pocket health care expenditures. Besides, the country has only 6.49 doctors per 10,000 people, lower than even Pakistan, which spends just 2.5% of its GDP on health care.

(This story appears in the 15 November, 2013 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)