Healthcare expenditure as a share of GDP in Ireland 1980-2021

Total expenditure on health as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) in Ireland amounted to just 7.1 percent in 2020, an increase from the previous year. The year 2021 saw a decrease of total health expenditure at 6.7 percent of GDP. Between 2009 and 2013, spending on health in Ireland was over ten percent of its GDP before declining again since 2014.

Health expenditure in Ireland compared to Europe

In comparison to other European countries in 2019, Ireland ranked considerably low in terms of health spending as a share of GDP. Top of the list was Switzerland, which spent 12.1 percent of its’ GDP on healthcare in this year. While Germany and France both spent over eleven percent on health. The UK, Ireland’s closest neighbor, spent 10.3 percent of its GDP on health.

Trend of healthcare workers in Ireland

In 2019, there were almost 69.4 thousand individuals employed at hospitals in Ireland, since the year 2000 this figure has increased by over 23 thousand. Similarly in the period since 2000 the number of general practitioners in Ireland has more than doubled to over 4.3 thousand in 2020.