Risk of catastrophic expenditure for surgical care in Latin America & Caribbean

Latin America & Caribbean: Risk of catastrophic expenditure for surgical care was 16.3% in 2022. ▼ Falling

Latest (2022)
16.3%
Change on year
up 28.2%
Rank
23rd
of 39 groups
All-time high
24.8%
in 2004
All-time low
11.5%
in 2020
Years of data
20
2003–2022

Risk of catastrophic expenditure for surgical care in Latin America & Caribbean, 2003–2022

05101520252003201220222003: 24.2 % of people at risk2004: 24.8 % of people at risk2005: 24.6 % of people at risk2006: 23.8 % of people at risk2007: 21.3 % of people at risk2008: 19.2 % of people at risk2009: 17.7 % of people at risk2010: 17 % of people at risk2011: 14.9 % of people at risk2012: 14.8 % of people at risk2013: 14.1 % of people at risk2014: 13.9 % of people at risk2015: 13 % of people at risk2016: 13.5 % of people at risk2017: 14.1 % of people at risk2018: 13.1 % of people at risk2019: 12.9 % of people at risk2020: 11.5 % of people at risk2021: 12.7 % of people at risk2022: 16.3 % of people at risk

Source: Program in Global Surgery and Social Change (PGSSC), Harvard Medical School. Measured in % of people at risk.

Analysis

Latin America & Caribbean recorded 16.3% for risk of catastrophic expenditure for surgical care in 2022.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 28.2% on the previous year and up 10.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, risk of catastrophic expenditure for surgical care in Latin America & Caribbean peaked at 24.8% in 2004 and was at its lowest, 11.5%, in 2020.

Latin America & Caribbean ranks 23rd of 39 groups on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 20 years of available data.

Risk of catastrophic expenditure for surgical care in Latin America & Caribbean, year by year

Annual values for Risk of catastrophic expenditure for surgical care (% of people at risk) in Latin America & Caribbean, 2003 to 2022.
Year % of people at risk Change
2003 24.2%
2004 24.8% +2.4%
2005 24.6% -0.8%
2006 23.8% -3.2%
2007 21.3% -10.3%
2008 19.2% -10.2%
2009 17.7% -7.5%
2010 17.0% -4.0%
2011 14.9% -12.3%
2012 14.8% -1.1%
2013 14.1% -4.8%
2014 13.9% -1.2%
2015 13.0% -6.3%
2016 13.5% +3.6%
2017 14.1% +4.6%
2018 13.1% -6.8%
2019 12.9% -1.7%
2020 11.5% -11.0%
2021 12.7% +10.9%
2022 16.3% +28.2%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 22.2% 17.7% 24.8% 7
2010s 14.1% 12.9% 17.0% 10
2020s 13.5% 11.5% 16.3% 3

Countries ranked near Latin America & Caribbean

  1. 20 Nepal 58.2% compare
  2. 21 Guinea 57.5% compare
  3. 22 Burkina Faso 56.2% compare
  4. 23 Cameroon 54.3% compare
  5. 24 Angola 51.7% compare
  6. 25 Gambia 51.6% compare
  7. 26 Bangladesh 51.0% compare

See the full ranking of 173 places →

More health data for Latin America & Caribbean

All data for Latin America & Caribbean →

Frequently asked questions

What is risk of catastrophic expenditure for surgical care in Latin America & Caribbean?
Risk of catastrophic expenditure for surgical care in Latin America & Caribbean was 16.3% in 2022, according to Program in Global Surgery and Social Change (PGSSC), Harvard Medical School.
What is the highest risk of catastrophic expenditure for surgical care recorded in Latin America & Caribbean?
The highest recorded value was 24.8% in 2004.
What is the lowest risk of catastrophic expenditure for surgical care recorded in Latin America & Caribbean?
The lowest recorded value was 11.5% in 2020.
How does Latin America & Caribbean rank for risk of catastrophic expenditure for surgical care?
Latin America & Caribbean ranks 23rd out of 39 groups with data for 2022.
Is risk of catastrophic expenditure for surgical care rising or falling in Latin America & Caribbean?
Over the last ten years it is up 10.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Latin America & Caribbean data come from?
The figures come from Program in Global Surgery and Social Change (PGSSC), Harvard Medical School, published as part of Risk of catastrophic expenditure for surgical care (% of people at risk). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 20 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Risk of catastrophic expenditure for surgical care in Latin America & Caribbean. Statizoid, drawing on Program in Global Surgery and Social Change (PGSSC), Harvard Medical School. Retrieved 18 September 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/stat/risk-of-catastrophic-expenditure-for-surgical-care-percent-of-people-at-risk/latin-america-and-caribbean/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://health.statizoid.com/stat/risk-of-catastrophic-expenditure-for-surgical-care-percent-of-people-at-risk/latin-america-and-caribbean/">Risk of catastrophic expenditure for surgical care in Latin America & Caribbean</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Risk of catastrophic expenditure for surgical care (% of people at risk)
Unit
% of people at risk
Source
Program in Global Surgery and Social Change (PGSSC), Harvard Medical School
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
173 places, 3,065 data points, 2003–2022
Last refreshed

The proportion of population at risk of catastrophic expenditure when surgical care is required. Catastrophic expenditure is defined as direct out of pocket payments for surgical and anaesthesia care exceeding 10% of total income.