France vs United States of America: Government health spending as a share of GDP
France
9.4%
in 2025
United States of America
14.6%
in 2025
France rank
3rd
United States of America rank
1st
Government health spending as a share of GDP over time
- France
- United States of America
How they compare
United States of America currently reports 14.6% against 9.4% in France, a difference of 5.2%.
That makes United States of America's figure about 1.6 times France's.
The two have swapped places 3 times across 72 shared years of data; in 1880 it was France ahead.
France ranks 3rd and United States of America ranks 1st of 59 countries.
Across the 13 decades both report, France averaged higher in 8 and United States of America in 4.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | France | United States of America | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.2% | France |
| 1890s | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.1% | France |
| 1900s | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.1% | France |
| 1910s | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.0% | — |
| 1920s | 0.2% | 0.4% | 0.2% | United States of America |
| 1930s | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.0% | United States of America |
| 1960s | 3.1% | 1.5% | 1.6% | France |
| 1970s | 4.6% | 2.8% | 1.7% | France |
| 1980s | 5.8% | 3.9% | 1.9% | France |
| 1990s | 7.1% | 5.4% | 1.7% | France |
| 2000s | 8.0% | 6.6% | 1.4% | France |
| 2010s | 8.6% | 11.4% | 2.8% | United States of America |
| 2020s | 9.7% | 14.6% | 4.9% | United States of America |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher government health spending as a share of gdp, France or United States of America?
- United States of America, at 14.6% against 9.4% in France as of 2025.
- What is the difference in government health spending as a share of gdp between France and United States of America?
- 5.2%, with United States of America ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for France and United States of America?
- 72 years are reported by both, from 1880 to 2025.
- How do France and United States of America rank globally for government health spending as a share of gdp?
- France ranks 3rd and United States of America ranks 1st of 59 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- OECD (2026); OECD (1993); Lindert (1994) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Government health spending as a share of GDP. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Public health expenditure divided by gross domestic product, expressed as a percentage.