Current health expenditure in North America
North America: Current health expenditure was 16.3% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Current health expenditure in North America, 2000–2023
Source: Global Health Expenditure Database, updated December 12th, 2025, World Health Organization (WHO). Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2023, current health expenditure in North America stood at 16.3%.
The figure is up 1.2% on the previous year and up 5.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, current health expenditure in North America peaked at 18.1% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 12.2%, in 2000.
That places North America 1st out of 47 groups with data for 2023, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 24 years of available data.
Current health expenditure in North America, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 12.2% | — |
| 2001 | 12.9% | +5.5% |
| 2002 | 13.7% | +6.1% |
| 2003 | 14.1% | +3.3% |
| 2004 | 14.1% | +0.1% |
| 2005 | 14.1% | -0.0% |
| 2006 | 14.2% | +0.8% |
| 2007 | 14.4% | +1.2% |
| 2008 | 14.7% | +1.8% |
| 2009 | 15.7% | +7.2% |
| 2010 | 15.7% | -0.4% |
| 2011 | 15.5% | -0.7% |
| 2012 | 15.6% | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 15.4% | -0.9% |
| 2014 | 15.6% | +1.2% |
| 2015 | 16.0% | +2.3% |
| 2016 | 16.3% | +1.9% |
| 2017 | 16.2% | -0.5% |
| 2018 | 16.1% | -0.7% |
| 2019 | 16.1% | +0.3% |
| 2020 | 18.1% | +12.3% |
| 2021 | 17.0% | -6.4% |
| 2022 | 16.1% | -5.1% |
| 2023 | 16.3% | +1.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 14.0% | 12.2% | 15.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 15.8% | 15.4% | 16.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 16.9% | 16.1% | 18.1% | 4 |
Countries ranked near North America
- 1 Tuvalu 27.1% compare
- 2 Naoero 18.2% compare
- 3 United States of America 16.7% compare
- 4 Afghanistan 15.0% compare
More health data for North America
- Population ages 45-49, male, annual growth rate 2.06 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 40-44, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 40-44, male, per capita 0.0344 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 45-49, female, annual growth rate 1.98 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 45-49, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 45-49, female, per capita 0.0303 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 45-49, male, per capita 0.0316 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 50-54, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 50-54, female, annual growth rate -1.49 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 40-44, male, annual growth rate 0.825 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is current health expenditure in North America?
- Current health expenditure in North America was 16.3% in 2023, according to Global Health Expenditure Database, updated December 12th, 2025, World Health Organization (WHO).
- What is the highest current health expenditure recorded in North America?
- The highest recorded value was 18.1% in 2020.
- What is the lowest current health expenditure recorded in North America?
- The lowest recorded value was 12.2% in 2000.
- How does North America rank for current health expenditure?
- North America ranks 1st out of 47 groups with data for 2023.
- Is current health expenditure rising or falling in North America?
- Over the last ten years it is up 5.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this North America data come from?
- The figures come from Global Health Expenditure Database, updated December 12th, 2025, World Health Organization (WHO), published as part of Current health expenditure (% of GDP). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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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.