Per capita health expenditure in selected countries 2021

In 2021, the United States had the highest per capita health expenditure among OECD countries. At that time, per capita health expenditure in the U.S. amounted to 12,318 U.S. dollars, significantly higher than in Germany, the country with the second highest per capita health expenditure. Switzerland, Norway, and the Netherlands are also within the top five countries with the highest per capita health expenditure. The United States also spent the highest share of it’s gross domestic product on health care, with almost 19 percent of its GDP spent on health care services.

Health Expenditure in the U.S.

The United States is the highest spending country worldwide when it comes to health care. In 2020, total health expenditure in the U.S. exceeded four trillion dollars. Expenditure as a percentage of GDP is projected to increase to around 20 percent by the year 2028.

Distribution of Health Expenditure in the U.S.

Health expenditure in the United States is spread out across multiple categories such as nursing home facilities, home health care, and prescription drugs. As of 2020, the majority of health expenditure in the United States was spent on hospital care, accounting for a bit less than one third of all health spending. Hospital care was followed by spending on physician and clinical services which accounted for 20 percent of overall health expenditure.