Thread by @AnitaCTHF

There is increasing interest in how the NHS compares to other countries on spending. 

Some argue that the UK now has higher than average levels of spend vs comparable countries. But international comparisons are more complex.

A thread… 🧵⬇️

Overall UK health spending (public, private insurance, out of pocket and charitable) in 2020 and 2021 was 12% of GDP, compared to the OECD average (9.7%) and EU14 average (10.2%).

In 2020, the UK had the fifth highest share in the OECD, below US, Canada, Germany and France.

This is a big increase on previous years. Before Covid, overall health spending in the UK was 10% of GDP – putting the UK eleventh highest in the OECD.

Around 80% of health spending is publicly funded. This govt spending is very important as it funds the NHS.

Before Covid, in 2019, the UK spent 8% of GDP on government health spending. This was more than the OECD & EU14 average but less than countries like Germany & France.

Covid has had a major impact on health spending, particularly government spending.

The UK increased government health spending by more than most other countries.  As a result, government spending as a share of GDP had increased to almost 10% in 2020.

Share of GDP shows the priority attached to health, but what does that buy? 

This depends on the size of the economy too.

Since the financial crisis, productivity growth (GDP per hour) has been slow. As a result the UK economy has not grown as fast as in previous decades.

This makes funding the NHS harder.

In 2019, while the UK spent an above average share of GDP on health compared to the EU14, spending on health per person was below the EU14 average.

When we look beyond money at the physical resources for health, we see that on most measures (staff, beds, scanners) the UK is at or near the bottom of international comparisons.

International comparisons lead to different conclusions depending on the way you look at the data. Spending on health as % of GDP is an important comparator but is only one measure.

How much we spend per person and the resources that money can buy are equally important.