Health expenditure in relation to GDP

The resources that a country allocates to healthcare compared to the size of the overall economy vary over time due to differences in both the growth of health spending and overall economic growth. During the 1990s and 2000s, OECD countries generally saw health spending outpace the rest of the economy, leading to an almost continual rise in the health expenditure to GDP ratio. After the volatility of the 2008 economic and financial crisis, the share remained relatively stable, as growth in health spending broadly matched overall economic performance across the OECD. The arrival of the COVID‑19 pandemic in 2020 with a severe slowdown in economic activity and rapidly increasing health spending led to a significant adjustment in the health expenditure to GDP ratio.