U.K. spends approximately half the budget on healthcare compared to the U.S.

According to OECD data, the UK's share of health expenditure and it's per capita healthcare spending is significantly lower than that of the U.S.

According to the country-wise data published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the share of health expenditure and financing in the GDP of the U.K. was 9.8% in 2017, 10% in 2018, and 10.3% in 2019. In comparison, the United States’ expenditure on health constituted 17% of the GDP in 2017, 16.9% in 2018, and 17% in 2019.

Data from the OECD states that U.K.’s health care spending per capita was $3247.2 in 2017, $3336.5 in 2018, and $3536.5 in 2019. The United States’ per capita healthcare spending was $8620, $9008.8, and $9386.5 in 2017, 2018, and 2019 respectively. The per capita spending figures include out-of-pocket spending, private spending, and public spending as well. The report also highlighted that from 1980-2018, the U.S. had the highest healthcare spending among the OCED member countries based on the percentage of the GDP.

Note- It is not clear if the figures mentioned in the report are in million or billion.

Reference links

OECD

neutral

The Commonwealth Fund

neutral

WSJ

neutral

Have a question or correction on one of our fact-checks?

If you think a claim has been misjudged or requires correction, please send us evidence to support your error claim. We will revisit our evidence and verdict and conduct additional research to verify new information.

Fact Check of the Day

false

The BBC censored the crowd booing Boris Johnson at the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.