In this article, we will be taking a look at the 15 Healthiest Countries in Asia. You can skip our detailed analysis on the health market and directly head to the 5 Healthiest Countries in Asia.
Growth and Investment Trends in the Asian Healthcare Market
The global healthcare market, valued at $7.975 trillion in 2023, is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.3%, reaching $9.8 trillion by 2027. The hospital sector, a major component, is expected to expand at a rate of 4.18% annually, reaching $5.19 trillion by 2029.
As noted by apec.org, the Asian healthcare market is projected to reach USD 4.2 trillion by 2024 and the hospitals segment in Asia is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.33% from 2024 to 2029, reaching a market volume of USD 1.75 trillion by 2029. The digital health sector in Asia is forecasted to grow by 8.26% annually from 2024 to 2029, with an estimated market volume of USD 99.57 billion by 2029. The burgeoning middle class in Asia is contributing to increased healthcare spending. By 2030, the middle class in the region is expected to reach 3.49 billion, up from 1.38 billion in 2015.
Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in the healthcare sector in Asia-Pacific is on the rise, with significant contributions from the United States, Switzerland, Japan, Germany, and France. Intra-regional investments are also robust, led by firms from China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and India. Key areas such as precision medicine and gene therapy are poised for growth. Asia is also home to 60% of the world’s diabetics and is expected to have two-thirds of the global population aged 65 and above by 2030, presenting both challenges and opportunities for healthcare providers.
Key Players in the Global Healthcare Market
Companies like Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), Alto Neuroscience, Inc. (NYSE:ANRO) and Johnson and Johnson, among others, stand out for their remarkable contributions and developments in healthcare. For example, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) gained international recognition for its rapid growth of a COVID-19 vaccine in collaboration with BioNTech. The vaccine, branded as Comirnaty, was one of the first to receive emergency use authorization and has been widely distributed worldwide. The Pfizer Foundation, a separate legal entity from Pfizer Inc., invests in community-led partnerships to address complex global health challenges. In the 2024 cycle, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) contributed $1,423,530 to various political entities, with significant portions going to party committees and candidates. The company also invested $6,120,000 in lobbying activities in 2024, highlighting its active role in shaping healthcare policies.
Financially, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) reported second-quarter revenues of $13.3 billion, marking a 3% year-over-year operational growth. The company achieved adjusted earnings per share of 60 cents, surpassing the expected 46 cents. Despite a decline in COVID-related revenues, non-COVID product revenues grew by 14% operationally. Pfizer raised its full-year 2024 revenue guidance to a range of $59.5 to $62.5 billion and adjusted diluted earnings per share to a range of $2.45 to $2.65. The company expects approximately $5 billion in revenue from its COVID-19 vaccine and $3.5 billion from Paxlovid for the year. Pfizer is on track to achieve $4 billion in net cost savings by the end of 2024 through a cost realignment program. Additionally, a Manufacturing Optimization Program is expected to deliver $1.5 billion in savings by 2027.
Similarly, Alto Neuroscience, Inc. (NYSE:ANRO), another one of the biggest key players in the healthcare market, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on revolutionizing psychiatric care through precision medicine. Alto Neuroscience has developed an AI-enabled biomarker platform that integrates extensive data on brain activity and behavior. As of March 31, 2024, Alto Neuroscience had cash and cash equivalents of approximately $205.9 million. The company’s R&D expenses for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, were $10.0 million, compared to $5.6 million for the same period in 2023. The increase was mainly due to costs associated with the ALTO-100 and ALTO-300 Phase 2b clinical studies. Alto Neuroscience, Inc. (NYSE:ANRO) also reported a net loss of $13.4 million for Q1 2024, compared to a net loss of $7.3 million for Q1 2023. Alto has also initiated a Phase 2 study of ALTO-203 in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and anhedonia and reported positive Phase 1 data for ALTO-101, a novel PDE4 inhibitor.
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Pixabay/Public domain
Our Methodology
For our list, we looked at two indexes: the GHS index of 2021 and the health pillar of Legatum Prosperity index of 2023. The 2021 Global Health Security (GHS) Index assesses 195 countries’ preparedness for epidemics and pandemics across six categories. The global average score is 38.9, indicating weak international readiness despite COVID-19 efforts. Similarly, The Health pillar of the 2023 Legatum Prosperity Index assesses health outcomes, systems, risk factors, and mortality rates, highlighting the importance of physical and mental health and access to effective healthcare services for individual and national prosperity. Hence, we averaged the scores of GHS, and the health pillar’s from Legatum index and the final rankings in our list were adjusted according to the average we obtained of these scores.
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Here is our list of the 15 healthiest countries in Asia.
15. Kyrgyzstan
Insider Monkey Score: 12.5
Kyrgyzstan is one of the healthiest countries in Asia. However, it struggles with high obesity rates, with 21.4% of adult women and 16.4% of adult men affected, which is higher than the regional average. In 2022, Kyrgyzstan allocated 22,635.1 billion soms to healthcare. Spending rose to 46.2% of GDP from 38.8% the previous year which was driven by increased social benefits and spending on goods and services. The country also deals with a stable but concerning HIV epidemic, largely driven by injecting drug use among men.
14. Uzbekistan
Insider Monkey Score: 12
Uzbekistan is on course to meet global nutrition targets for stunting and wasting among children under five. The prevalence of stunting is 10.8%, and wasting is 1.8%, per GlobalNutritionalReport.org, both lower than the regional averages in Asia. The country faces challenges with diet-related non-communicable diseases. Obesity affects 21.8% of adult women and 16.1% of adult men, while diabetes affects 13.2% of women and 12.8% of men, which is higher than the regional average. In 2023, Uzbekistan’s parliament significantly increased medical sector funding, allocating more than five times the 2016 amount. This boost raised healthcare spending from 32.1% to 33.9% of GDP, improving the supply of medicines and medical resources in hospitals and emergency services.
13. Sri Lanka
Insider Monkey Score: 12
Sri Lanka has achieved notable health outcomes, such as a high life expectancy of 76.4 years and low maternal and infant mortality rates compared to its regional neighbors. As of January 2023, Sri Lanka had a $220 million funding gap for essential medicines and supplies due to its economic crisis. The WHO warned that the crisis is worsening health conditions, as the country relies on imports for these items. By April 2023, only $80 million had been secured through donors, short of the $300 million needed annually.
12. Tajikistan
Insider Monkey Score: 11.5
Tajikistan’s healthcare system has undergone substantial reforms over the past decades, particularly with the adoption of a PHC model based on family medicine. There has been progress in exclusive breastfeeding (35.8% of infants aged 0 to 5 months) and reducing low birth weight (5.6% of infants). The prevalence of stunting in children under 5 is 17.5%, lower than the regional average. Tajikistan’s health spending rose from 4.3% of GDP in 2000 to 8% in 2020, surpassing the CIS average. Despite this, per capita health expenditure remains the lowest in the region, heavily reliant on out-of-pocket payments. In 2019, it was $251, below the Central Asia average and a tenth of the WHO European Region average. In 2009, 18% of the population faced catastrophic health spending, where costs exceeded 10% of household income.
11. Vietnam
Insider Monkey Score: 10.5
Vietnam stands eleventh among the healthiest countries in Asia. In 2023, Vietnam’s health expenditure was 5.1% of GDP, slightly above the Asia-Pacific average of 5%. The human health and social work sector contributed approximately 2.657 trillion Vietnamese dong, or 2.6% of GDP. According to the Global Nutrition Report, the prevalence of obesity in the country is relatively low, with 3.3% of women and 2.2% of men being obese, which is significantly lower than the regional averages.
10. Kazakhstan
Insider Monkey Score: 10.5
Kazakhstan’s healthcare system has undergone substantial changes since the country’s independence in 1991. In 2023, Kazakhstan spent 2.2 trillion tenge on healthcare, a 12.3% increase from 2022, making up 10.3% of the total budget. Outpatient care received 56% of this budget, and funding for medical rehabilitation has grown 13-fold since 2019. The Social Health Insurance Fund allocated 24% of its budget to rural healthcare.
9. Turkmenistan
Insider Monkey Score: 10
Turkmenistan has taken significant steps to implement a “One Health” approach, which integrates human, animal, and environmental health. In 2023, Turkmenistan allocated 1.6% of GDP to health care, a low figure. Overall social spending was 8.8% of GDP, including 3.9% for education and 3.3% for social protection.
8. China
Insider Monkey Score: 10
China is recognized as one of the healthiest countries in Asia. In 2023, China’s public expenditure on health care and hygiene was about 2.24 trillion yuan, down 0.6% from 2022. This decrease reflects the high spending in 2022 due to COVID-19 lockdowns, rather than an actual cutback. The country’s life expectancy stands at 78.21 years.
7. Thailand
Insider Monkey Score: 8
Thailand stands seventh among the healthiest countries in Asia with a health score of 79.31. The country’s life expectancy stands at 78.72 years. In 2023, Thailand’s healthcare spending was approximately $24.6 billion, or 4.8% of GDP, up from $22.5 billion in 2021. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2017 to 2021 was 5.7%. Government health expenditure rose to $6.2 trillion in 2022. The country is also a popular destination for medical tourism, attracting patients from around the world due to its high-quality healthcare services and affordable costs.
6. Malaysia
Insider Monkey Score: 7.5
Malaysia’s healthcare spending has more than tripled since 2010, reaching 5.1% of GDP in 2021. In 2023, the government allocated about 32 billion Malaysian ringgit to healthcare, with a projected increase to 35 billion ringgit in 2024. The Ministry of Health (MOH) was the largest funder in 2021, contributing 49.3% of the total. Public sources provided 57.9% of funding, largely due to COVID-19, while out-of-pocket payments accounted for 31.5%, and the private sector contributed 42.1%, supporting both medical demand and tourism. The country’s life expectancy stands at 76.79 years.
5. Hong Kong
Insider Monkey Score: 5.5
Hong Kong boasts one of the highest life expectancies in the world, at 85.49 years. The public healthcare system is highly subsidized, providing low-cost services to residents. In 2022–2023, Hong Kong spent HK$284.1 billion on healthcare, a 15% increase from the previous year, averaging HK$38,670 per person. The government allocated US$11.8 billion to the Hospital Authority, the main provider of medical devices and pharmaceuticals, with much of this funding used to subsidize healthcare for residents at public hospitals.
4. Taiwan
Insider Monkey Score: 4
Taiwan’s healthcare market is characterized by a mix of public and private healthcare providers. The National Health Insurance (NHI) program, established in 1995, plays a central role in the healthcare system. Taiwan has a high density of healthcare providers, especially in urban areas like Taipei, where there are approximately 42.89 healthcare providers per kilometer. However, there is a notable disparity in healthcare access between urban and rural areas, with rural regions like Kaohsiung-Pingtung-Taitung having only about 4.9 healthcare providers per kilometer. In 2022, Taiwan spent approximately 222.16 billion New Taiwan dollars on public health, with an average household expenditure of 148,600 New Taiwan dollars. Public health spending was just over 4% of GDP, about two-thirds of the OECD average and one-third of the U.S. level. Taiwan’s healthcare spending has remained stable over the past decade, unlike the upward trend seen in other OECD countries.
3. South Korea
Insider Monkey Score: 3
The National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) covers all citizens, providing universal healthcare access. In 2023, South Korea allocated about 315.8 billion won to mental health care, an 84% increase from 2019. National health expenditure is expected to grow 7.5% in 2023, outpacing the 6.1% GDP growth, potentially raising the health spending share of GDP from 17.3% in 2022 to 19.7% by 2032.
2. Japan
Insider Monkey Score: 2
Japan has one of the highest life expectancies in the world, with an average of over 84 years. The Japanese diet, rich in fish, vegetables, and whole grains, along with cultural practices like “hara hachi bu” (eating until 80% full), plays a significant role in maintaining the population’s health. In 2023, Japanese households spent an average of 17.5 thousand yen on private medical insurance premiums, a slight decrease from the previous year, and about 1.1 thousand yen per month on health fortification. The Medical Care Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 101.2 index points, an increase of 1.2 points since 2020.
1. Singapore
Insider Monkey Score: 1
Singapore tops the list for being the healthiest country in Asia. The government of Singapore is committed to funding healthcare services, particularly focusing on the needs of its aging population. In 2023, Singapore’s healthcare spending rose to $16.68 billion, up 4.8% from 2022, due to higher costs and the HealthierSG initiative, which emphasizes preventive and community-based care.
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Disclosure. None: The 15 Healthiest Countries in Asia is originally published on Insider Monkey.