A comparative analysis of healthcare expenditures in OECD and Türkiye

Abstract

This study discusses how the health expenditures in OECD countries and Türkiye are financed, and the similarities and differences in health expenditures. With the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was a year in which the economy slowed down but health expenditures increased. Total health expenditures worldwide reached 8.7 trillion dollars in 2020. In Türkiye, the total health expenditure increased by 24.3% in 2020 compared to the previous year and reached 249 billion 932 million TL. The ratio of current health expenditure to GDP was 4.6% in Türkiye in 2020, while the average of OECD countries was 8.8%. States appear as the party that covers the vast majority of health expenditures. While the ratio of general government health expenditure to total health expenditure in Türkiye is 79.2% in 2020, average of OECD countries is 73%. When inter-country per capita health expenditures are compared, we can see that the inter-country differences are very large and some countries spend only 1% of GDP and some more than 10% of their GDPs for health services. This study covers the data set from year 2000 to 2020, when all health expenditures data are fully available, and analyzes comparatively the health expenditures of the OECD and the Turkish health expenditures during this time period. The results show that Türkiye is in the last place between 2000-2020 in total health expenditures among OECD countries but improving in almost all indicators related to healthcare.