Health spending as a share of total government spending in Barbados
Barbados: Health spending as a share of total government spending was 7.8% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Health spending as a share of total government spending in Barbados, 2000–2023
Source: World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2023, health spending as a share of total government spending in Barbados stood at 7.8%. That is the lowest value across all 24 years on record.
That represents a change of down 10.7% on the previous year and down 27.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, health spending as a share of total government spending in Barbados peaked at 14.0% in 2004 and was at its lowest, 7.8%, in 2023.
Barbados ranks 132nd of 195 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.
Health spending as a share of total government spending in Barbados, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 12.3% | — |
| 2001 | 12.4% | +0.8% |
| 2002 | 9.3% | -24.6% |
| 2003 | 11.6% | +24.7% |
| 2004 | 14.0% | +20.0% |
| 2005 | 12.3% | -12.3% |
| 2006 | 12.2% | -0.3% |
| 2007 | 10.5% | -13.9% |
| 2008 | 11.3% | +7.1% |
| 2009 | 11.7% | +3.3% |
| 2010 | 10.7% | -7.9% |
| 2011 | 10.6% | -1.1% |
| 2012 | 12.4% | +16.9% |
| 2013 | 10.8% | -12.9% |
| 2014 | 9.9% | -8.3% |
| 2015 | 9.1% | -8.5% |
| 2016 | 9.3% | +2.4% |
| 2017 | 9.1% | -2.4% |
| 2018 | 9.9% | +9.0% |
| 2019 | 10.6% | +7.7% |
| 2020 | 11.0% | +3.1% |
| 2021 | 12.4% | +13.3% |
| 2022 | 8.7% | -29.7% |
| 2023 | 7.8% | -10.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 11.8% | 9.3% | 14.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 10.2% | 9.1% | 12.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 10.0% | 7.8% | 12.4% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Barbados
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Frequently asked questions
- What is health spending as a share of total government spending in Barbados?
- Health spending as a share of total government spending in Barbados was 7.8% 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 Barbados?
- The highest recorded value was 14.0% in 2004.
- What is the lowest health spending as a share of total government spending recorded in Barbados?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.8% in 2023.
- How does Barbados rank for health spending as a share of total government spending?
- Barbados ranks 132nd out of 195 countries with data for 2023.
- Is health spending as a share of total government spending rising or falling in Barbados?
- Over the last ten years it is down 27.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Barbados 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.