Share of population with large expenditures on health in United States of America

United States of America: Share of population with large expenditures on health was 4.6% in 2021. ▼ Falling

Latest (2021)
4.6%
Change on year
up 15.8%
World rank
47th
of 63 countries
All-time high
6.3%
in 2002
All-time low
4.0%
in 2020
Years of data
24
1996–2021

Share of population with large expenditures on health in United States of America, 1996–2021

02461996200820211996: 5.9 %1997: 6 %1998: 6 %1999: 6 %2000: 5.9 %2001: 5.8 %2002: 6.3 %2003: 5.8 %2004: 5.6 %2005: 5.7 %2006: 5.4 %2008: 4.6 %2009: 4.7 %2011: 4.7 %2012: 5 %2013: 4.8 %2014: 4.9 %2015: 4.4 %2016: 4.5 %2017: 4.5 %2018: 4.5 %2019: 4.3 %2020: 4 %2021: 4.6 %

Source: World Health Organisation and World Bank – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

In 2021, share of population with large expenditures on health in United States of America stood at 4.6%.

That represents a change of up 15.8% on the previous year and down 2.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of population with large expenditures on health in United States of America peaked at 6.3% in 2002 and was at its lowest, 4.0%, in 2020.

That places United States of America 47th out of 63 countries with data for 2021, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.

Share of population with large expenditures on health in United States of America, year by year

Annual values for Share of population with large expenditures on health in United States of America, 1996 to 2021.
Year % Change
1996 5.9%
1997 6.0% +1.5%
1998 6.0% -0.7%
1999 6.0% +1.0%
2000 5.9% -1.8%
2001 5.8% -2.0%
2002 6.3% +8.6%
2003 5.8% -8.4%
2004 5.6% -3.6%
2005 5.7% +1.6%
2006 5.4% -4.4%
2008 4.6% -15.9%
2009 4.7% +3.1%
2011 4.7% +0.4%
2012 5.0% +5.7%
2013 4.8% -4.4%
2014 4.9% +2.7%
2015 4.4% -10.2%
2016 4.5% +1.6%
2017 4.5% +0.7%
2018 4.5% +0.2%
2019 4.3% -3.5%
2020 4.0% -8.5%
2021 4.6% +15.8%

United States of America compared with similar countries

  • United States of America's 4.6% is below the median for high income countries, which is 7.9%, 58% of the median. (22 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 6.0% 5.9% 6.0% 4
2000s 5.5% 4.6% 6.3% 9
2010s 4.6% 4.3% 5.0% 9
2020s 4.3% 4.0% 4.6% 2

Countries ranked near United States of America

  1. 44 Pakistan 5.4% compare
  2. 45 Kyrgyzstan 4.9% compare
  3. 46 Czechia 4.6% compare
  4. 48 Mexico 4.4% compare
  5. 49 Luxembourg 4.3% compare
  6. 50 Türkiye 4.2% compare

See the full ranking of 63 places →

More health data for United States of America

All data for United States of America →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of population with large expenditures on health in United States of America?
Share of population with large expenditures on health in United States of America was 4.6% in 2021, according to World Health Organisation and World Bank – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest share of population with large expenditures on health recorded in United States of America?
The highest recorded value was 6.3% in 2002.
What is the lowest share of population with large expenditures on health recorded in United States of America?
The lowest recorded value was 4.0% in 2020.
How does United States of America rank for share of population with large expenditures on health?
United States of America ranks 47th out of 63 countries with data for 2021.
Is share of population with large expenditures on health rising or falling in United States of America?
Over the last ten years it is down 2.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this United States of America data come from?
The figures come from World Health Organisation and World Bank – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of population with large expenditures on health. 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).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Share of population with large expenditures on health in United States of America. Statizoid, drawing on World Health Organisation and World Bank – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 13 September 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/stat/share-of-population-with-large-household-expenditures-on-health-10pc/united-states/

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 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://health.statizoid.com/stat/share-of-population-with-large-household-expenditures-on-health-10pc/united-states/">Share of population with large expenditures on health in United States of America</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Share of population with large expenditures on health
Unit
%
Source
World Health Organisation and World Bank – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
63 places, 733 data points, 1985–2021
Last refreshed

Proportion of population with large household expenditures on health (greater than 10%) as a share of total household expenditure or income (%).