UK health spending compared with other countries
The UK's health spending was 11.4% of GDP in 2025, according to the OECD. That is the joint 6th-highest of the 38 OECD countries ranked here. The range ran from 4.7% of GDP in Türkiye to 17.6% of GDP in the US. The simple average across the 38 was 9.4% of GDP, a difference of 2.0 percentage points from the UK's figure.
The UK over ten years
From 2016 to 2025 the UK's figure was highest in 2020 (12.0% of GDP) and lowest in 2017 (9.7% of GDP).
The UK's figure was higher than the average in every year from 2016 to 2025.
In 2016 the UK ranked 14th of the 38 countries with a figure; in 2025 it ranked 6th of 38.
Seven countries had a higher figure than the UK in 2016 and a lower one in 2025: Belgium, Australia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Japan, Denmark and Norway.
How the OECD measures it
The OECD's current health expenditure is spending on health care goods and services in a year by government schemes, compulsory and voluntary insurance and households' own payments, measured under the System of Health Accounts shared by the OECD, Eurostat and the World Health Organization. Capital investment, such as building hospitals, is not included. It is shown as a share of GDP; figures for the latest year can be OECD estimates or provisional.
Countries compared: The 38 member countries of the OECD. The table uses the latest year for which the UK and at least three-quarters of the countries the OECD covers have a figure, so every value is for the same period.
Why this differs from the UK's own figures
The ONS compiles the UK's health accounts using the same System of Health Accounts as the OECD and publishes them each year, so the OECD's UK figure starts from the ONS's. Differences come from timing: the OECD may show a provisional or estimated value for the latest year before the ONS publishes it. HM Treasury's figures for NHS spending cover government spending only, in financial years, and include capital spending.
Sources and receipts
Every value on this page was read from these addresses. The SHA-256 is the fingerprint of the file as downloaded, so a later change at the source can be detected.
- https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.ELS.HD,DSD_SHA@DF_SHA,1.1/.A.EXP_HEALTH.PT_B1GQ._T._Z._T._T._T.…
OECD, Health expenditure and financing (System of Health Accounts) · read 2026-10-14 · SHA-256
5da77f4f2bc2d055… - OECD: Health expenditure and financing (System of Health Accounts)The publisher's page for this data, indicator EXP_HEALTH.
Common questions
Where does the UK rank for health spending in OECD countries?
OECD figures for 2025 put the UK 6th (joint) of 38, counting from the highest, at 11.4% of GDP.
Which OECD country has the highest health spending?
The US, at 17.6% of GDP in 2025 (OECD).
Which OECD country has the lowest health spending?
Türkiye, at 4.7% of GDP in 2025 (OECD).
What is the OECD average health spending?
The simple average of the 38 countries with figures for 2025 is 9.4% of GDP. The UK's figure is 11.4% of GDP.
How has the UK's health spending changed since 2016?
OECD figures give 9.8% of GDP for 2016 and 11.4% of GDP for 2025; the ten-year chart above shows the years in between.
Is this the same as the UK's official figure?
The ONS compiles the UK's health accounts using the same System of Health Accounts as the OECD and publishes them each year, so the OECD's UK figure starts from the ONS's. Differences come from timing: the OECD may show a provisional or estimated value for the latest year before the ONS publishes it.
More comparisons
- UK national debt compared with other countries
- UK GDP per head compared with other countries
- UK government spending compared with other countries
- UK tax revenue compared with other countries
- UK life expectancy compared with other countries
- UK house prices to income compared with other countries
Compare any two countries on GDP, inflation, unemployment, debt and life expectancy: country comparison tool.
These pages state each body's figures and the UK's position among them. They give no view on whether a figure is high or low. To report an error, send a correction request.