Health spending as a share of total government spending in Republic of Korea
Republic of Korea: Health spending as a share of total government spending was 15.6% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Health spending as a share of total government spending in Republic of Korea, 2000–2023
Source: World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Republic of Korea recorded 15.6% for health spending as a share of total government spending in 2023. That is the highest value across all 24 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 4.7% on the previous year and up 35.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, health spending as a share of total government spending in Republic of Korea peaked at 15.6% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 7.5%, in 2003.
That places Republic of Korea 37th out of 195 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
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 Republic of Korea, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 8.3% | — |
| 2001 | 9.3% | +12.3% |
| 2002 | 8.9% | -3.9% |
| 2003 | 7.5% | -16.2% |
| 2004 | 8.3% | +10.9% |
| 2005 | 8.9% | +7.0% |
| 2006 | 9.6% | +8.0% |
| 2007 | 10.1% | +5.4% |
| 2008 | 9.8% | -3.2% |
| 2009 | 10.1% | +3.0% |
| 2010 | 11.3% | +11.9% |
| 2011 | 11.1% | -2.1% |
| 2012 | 11.0% | -0.6% |
| 2013 | 11.5% | +4.9% |
| 2014 | 11.7% | +1.9% |
| 2015 | 12.1% | +3.2% |
| 2016 | 12.7% | +4.8% |
| 2017 | 13.2% | +3.8% |
| 2018 | 13.7% | +4.1% |
| 2019 | 13.9% | +1.3% |
| 2020 | 13.0% | -6.3% |
| 2021 | 14.3% | +10.3% |
| 2022 | 14.9% | +4.0% |
| 2023 | 15.6% | +4.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 9.1% | 7.5% | 10.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 12.2% | 11.0% | 13.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 14.5% | 13.0% | 15.6% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Republic of Korea
More health data for Republic of Korea
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -1.43 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate 0.1935 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 2,072 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 69 deaths (2100)
- Total tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 25 (2025)
- Total tetanus - number of reported cases, per capita 0 units per person (2025)
- Diphtheria - number of reported cases, gaps filled 0 (2025)
- Diphtheria - number of reported cases, per capita 0 units per person (2025)
- Measles - number of reported cases, gaps filled 78 (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 Republic of Korea?
- Health spending as a share of total government spending in Republic of Korea was 15.6% 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 Republic of Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 15.6% in 2023.
- What is the lowest health spending as a share of total government spending recorded in Republic of Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.5% in 2003.
- How does Republic of Korea rank for health spending as a share of total government spending?
- Republic of Korea ranks 37th out of 195 countries with data for 2023.
- Is health spending as a share of total government spending rising or falling in Republic of Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 35.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Republic of Korea 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.