Every country cares about its citizens’ health to a degree, but none more so than the 10 countries that spend the most on healthcare. A country is known by the happiness and prosperity of its citizens. And nothing is as influential in determining these traits as the health of the citizens, apart from maybe education as well, as seen in the 10 countries that spend the most on education. Developed countries have realized and appreciated this fact, which is why they take great care in ensuring that their citizens’ health is adequately provided for, often spending exorbitant amounts of money in the process.
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Generally, poor countries, often located in Asia or Africa, are unable to properly take care of their citizens. On the other hand, most of the countries on this list, unsurprisingly are based in Europe, which is considered to be the most progressive continent in terms of healthcare in the world.
In order to create our ranking of the 11 countries that spend the most on healthcare, we determined the total spending per capita on healthcare by each country, as determined by the World Bank, as well as the total spending on healthcare as a percentage of the total GDP of the country, according to the World Health Organization.
11. Sweden
Total spending (Spending on healthcare per capita): $5,680
Ranking according to spending on healthcare per capita: 10
Total spending (Spending on healthcare as a percentage of GDP): 9.7%
Ranking according to spending on healthcare as a percentage of GDP: 26
Overall Score: 18
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10. Norway
Total spending (Spending on healthcare per capita): $9,715
Ranking according to spending on healthcare per capita: 1
Total spending (Spending on healthcare as a percentage of GDP): 9.6%
Ranking according to spending on healthcare as a percentage of GDP: 30
Overall Score: 15.5
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9. Austria
Total spending (Spending on healthcare per capita): $5,427
Ranking according to spending on healthcare per capita: 11
Total spending (Spending on healthcare as a percentage of GDP): 11%
Ranking according to spending on healthcare as a percentage of GDP: 14
Overall Score: 12.5
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6. Germany
Total spending (Spending on healthcare per capita): $5,006
Ranking according to spending on healthcare per capita: 13
Total spending (Spending on healthcare as a percentage of GDP): 11.3%
Ranking according to spending on healthcare as a percentage of GDP: 11
Overall Score: 12
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6. Canada
Total spending (Spending on healthcare per capita): $5,718
Ranking according to spending on healthcare per capita: 9
Total spending (Spending on healthcare as a percentage of GDP): 10.9%
Ranking according to spending on healthcare as a percentage of GDP: 15
Overall Score: 12
6. Belgium
Total spending (Spending on healthcare per capita): $5,093
Ranking according to spending on healthcare per capita: 12
Total spending (Spending on healthcare as a percentage of GDP): 11.2%
Ranking according to spending on healthcare as a percentage of GDP: 12
Overall Score: 12
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5. Denmark
Total spending (Spending on healthcare per capita): $6,270
Ranking according to spending on healthcare per capita: 6
Total spending (Spending on healthcare as a percentage of GDP): 10.6%
Ranking according to spending on healthcare as a percentage of GDP: 17
Overall Score: 11.5
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4. France
Total spending (Spending on healthcare per capita): $4,864
Ranking according to spending on healthcare per capita: 14
Total spending (Spending on healthcare as a percentage of GDP): 11.7%
Ranking according to spending on healthcare as a percentage of GDP: 8
Overall Score: 11
2. Switzerland
Total spending (Spending on healthcare per capita): $9,276
Ranking according to spending on healthcare per capita: 2
Total spending (Spending on healthcare as a percentage of GDP): 11.5%
Ranking according to spending on healthcare as a percentage of GDP: 9
Overall Score: 5.5
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2. Netherlands
Total spending (Spending on healthcare per capita): $6,145
Ranking according to spending on healthcare per capita: 7
Total spending (Spending on healthcare as a percentage of GDP): 12.9%
Ranking according to spending on healthcare as a percentage of GDP:4
Overall Score: 5.5
1.United States of America
Total spending (Spending on healthcare per capita): $9,146
Ranking according to spending on healthcare per capita: 3
Total spending (Spending on healthcare as a percentage of GDP): 17.1%
Ranking according to spending on healthcare as a percentage of GDP: 2
Overall Score: 2.5
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After bringing Obamacare into effect, the US is now one of the leading spenders on healthcare in the world, thus topping the list of 11 countries that spend the most on healthcare, which is kind of ironic, considering all the flak the US healthcare system catches on the regular basis.Generally, healthcare in the US has been provided by a variety of programs which include Medicare, Medicaid, the Veterans Healthcare Administration and the Children’s Health Insurance Program as well. However, despite topping this list, the United States is one of the very few developed countries in the world which does not guarantee healthcare for every citizen in the country.
