External health expenditure in Low & middle income
Low & middle income: External health expenditure was 1.3% in 2023. ▼ Falling
External health expenditure in Low & middle income, 2000–2023
Source: Global Health Expenditure Database, updated December 12th, 2025, World Health Organization (WHO). Measured in % of current health expenditure.
Analysis
Low & middle income recorded 1.3% for external health expenditure in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 1.6% on the previous year and down 23.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, external health expenditure in Low & middle income peaked at 2.4% in 2004 and was at its lowest, 1.2%, in 2018.
That places Low & middle income 24th out of 42 groups with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.
External health expenditure in Low & middle income, year by year
| Year | % of current health expenditure | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 1.4% | — |
| 2001 | 1.4% | +0.3% |
| 2002 | 1.6% | +20.1% |
| 2003 | 1.8% | +11.4% |
| 2004 | 2.4% | +32.5% |
| 2005 | 2.4% | -0.8% |
| 2006 | 2.1% | -10.3% |
| 2007 | 2.0% | -5.0% |
| 2008 | 1.9% | -5.3% |
| 2009 | 1.9% | -1.1% |
| 2010 | 1.8% | -3.6% |
| 2011 | 1.8% | -2.7% |
| 2012 | 1.6% | -9.4% |
| 2013 | 1.6% | +1.6% |
| 2014 | 1.6% | -4.2% |
| 2015 | 1.3% | -15.4% |
| 2016 | 1.3% | -2.7% |
| 2017 | 1.2% | -7.2% |
| 2018 | 1.2% | -2.9% |
| 2019 | 1.2% | +5.1% |
| 2020 | 1.2% | -4.2% |
| 2021 | 1.4% | +17.8% |
| 2022 | 1.3% | -7.9% |
| 2023 | 1.3% | -1.6% |
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where External health expenditure in Low & middle income changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | +32.5% | 1.8% | 2.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 1.9% | 1.4% | 2.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.5% | 1.2% | 1.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.3% | 1.2% | 1.4% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Low & middle income
More health data for Low & middle income
- Population ages 40-44, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 45-49, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 15-64, male, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 45-49, female, annual growth rate 1.41 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 40-44, male, per capita 0.0331 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 40-44, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 05-09, male, annual growth rate -0.9493 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 40-44, male, annual growth rate 2.33 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 40-44, female, per capita 0.0323 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 35-39, female, per capita 0.036 units per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is external health expenditure in Low & middle income?
- External health expenditure in Low & middle income was 1.3% in 2023, according to Global Health Expenditure Database, updated December 12th, 2025, World Health Organization (WHO).
- What is the highest external health expenditure recorded in Low & middle income?
- The highest recorded value was 2.4% in 2004.
- What is the lowest external health expenditure recorded in Low & middle income?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.2% in 2018.
- How does Low & middle income rank for external health expenditure?
- Low & middle income ranks 24th out of 42 groups with data for 2023.
- Is external health expenditure rising or falling in Low & middle income?
- Over the last ten years it is down 23.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Low & middle income data come from?
- The figures come from Global Health Expenditure Database, updated December 12th, 2025, World Health Organization (WHO), published as part of External health expenditure (% of current health expenditure). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Share of current health expenditures funded from external sources. External sources compose of direct foreign transfers and foreign transfers distributed by government encompassing all financial inflows into the national health system from outside the country. External sources either flow through the government scheme or are channeled through non-governmental organizations or other schemes.