Public healthcare expenditure in Italy 2002-2019

Public healthcare expenditure in Italy increased steadily in the last two decades. This figure stood at approximately 80 billion euros in 2002, whereas it exceeded 115 billion euros as of 2019. Similarly, private expenditure on healthcare grew steadily in recent years, reaching nearly 40 billion euros. This brought the annual healthcare expenditure (public and private combined) to 8.8 percent of the country’s GDP in 2018.

Hospitals in Italy

Despite the increase in government funding for healthcare, the share of it dedicated to hospitals decreased comparatively in recent years. This led to the closure of smaller healthcare facilities and to a decrease in the number of hospitals, which, as a consequence, led to a decline in the number of hospital beds. Similarly, the number of individuals employed in hospitals was also reduced.

Hospitalization rates

The hospitalization rate per one thousand inhabitants in Italy stood at 135.67 in 2018. Hospitalization rates, however, varied significantly across regions (901891) and depended on the type of treatment. Aosta Valley, the Italian region neighboring France and Switzerland, for example, recorded a hospitalization rate of 165.32. By contrast, the rate registered in the region of Sicily stood at 117.75.