Health spending as a share of total government spending in Australia
Australia: Health spending as a share of total government spending was 21.0% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Health spending as a share of total government spending in Australia, 2000–2023
Source: World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Australia recorded 21.0% for health spending as a share of total government spending in 2023. That is the highest value across all 24 years on record.
That represents a change of up 3.8% on the previous year and up 36.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, health spending as a share of total government spending in Australia peaked at 21.0% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 14.6%, in 2000.
That places Australia 8th out of 195 countries 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.
Health spending as a share of total government spending in Australia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 14.6% | — |
| 2001 | 14.7% | +0.7% |
| 2002 | 15.5% | +5.5% |
| 2003 | 15.5% | -0.2% |
| 2004 | 15.9% | +3.0% |
| 2005 | 15.9% | -0.3% |
| 2006 | 15.9% | +0.2% |
| 2007 | 16.5% | +3.5% |
| 2008 | 15.6% | -5.3% |
| 2009 | 15.9% | +1.7% |
| 2010 | 16.1% | +1.5% |
| 2011 | 16.3% | +1.3% |
| 2012 | 16.2% | -0.8% |
| 2013 | 15.4% | -4.9% |
| 2014 | 17.6% | +14.5% |
| 2015 | 18.3% | +3.7% |
| 2016 | 18.5% | +1.4% |
| 2017 | 18.6% | +0.2% |
| 2018 | 18.5% | -0.3% |
| 2019 | 17.1% | -7.6% |
| 2020 | 17.1% | -0.4% |
| 2021 | 19.3% | +13.1% |
| 2022 | 20.2% | +5.0% |
| 2023 | 21.0% | +3.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 15.6% | 14.6% | 16.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 17.3% | 15.4% | 18.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 19.4% | 17.1% | 21.0% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Australia
More health data for Australia
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -1.83 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate -0.9072 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 906.6 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 215 deaths (2100)
- Total tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 1 (2025)
- Total tetanus - number of reported cases, per capita 0 units per person (2025)
- Diphtheria - number of reported cases, gaps filled 26 (2025)
- Diphtheria - number of reported cases, per capita 0 units per person (2025)
- Measles - number of reported cases, gaps filled 181 (2025)
- Measles - number of reported cases, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is health spending as a share of total government spending in Australia?
- Health spending as a share of total government spending in Australia was 21.0% in 2023, according to World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest health spending as a share of total government spending recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 21.0% in 2023.
- What is the lowest health spending as a share of total government spending recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 14.6% in 2000.
- How does Australia rank for health spending as a share of total government spending?
- Australia ranks 8th out of 195 countries with data for 2023.
- Is health spending as a share of total government spending rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 36.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Health spending as a share of total government spending. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Domestic general government health expenditure expressed as a percentage of total expenditure of the general government.