Afghanistan vs United States: Current health expenditure
Current health expenditure over time
- Afghanistan
- United States
How they compare
United States currently reports 16.7% against 15.0% in Afghanistan, a difference of 1.7%.
That makes United States's figure about 1.1 times Afghanistan's.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 22 shared years of data; in 2002 it was United States ahead.
Afghanistan ranks 4th and United States ranks 3rd of 193 countries.
Across the 3 decades both report, Afghanistan averaged higher in 1 and United States in 2.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Afghanistan | United States | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 9.8% | 14.8% | 5.0% | United States |
| 2010s | 10.7% | 16.3% | 5.6% | United States |
| 2020s | 18.8% | 17.3% | 1.5% | Afghanistan |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher current health expenditure, Afghanistan or United States?
- United States, at 16.7% against 15.0% in Afghanistan as of 2023.
- What is the difference in current health expenditure between Afghanistan and United States?
- 1.7%, with United States ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Afghanistan and United States?
- 22 years are reported by both, from 2002 to 2023.
- How do Afghanistan and United States rank globally for current health expenditure?
- Afghanistan ranks 4th and United States ranks 3rd of 193 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Global Health Expenditure Database, updated December 12th, 2025, World Health Organization (WHO), published as Current health expenditure (% of GDP). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
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About this data
Level of current health expenditure expressed as a percentage of GDP. Estimates of current health expenditures include healthcare goods and services consumed during each year. This indicator does not include capital health expenditures such as buildings, machinery, IT and stocks of vaccines for emergency or outbreaks.