OECD Health Data 2013 How Does Australia Compare

Total health spending accounted for 8.9% of GDP in Australia in 2010-11, slightly lower than the average of 9.3% in OECD countries in 2011. Health spending as a share of GDP is lower in Australia than in the United States (which spent 17.7% of its GDP on health in 2011) and in a number of European countries including the Netherlands (11.9%), France (11.6%) and Germany (11.3%). Australia ranks above the OECD average in terms of total health spending per capita, with spending of 3800 USD in 2010-11 (adjusted for purchasing power parity), compared with an OECD average of 3339 USD. Nonetheless, health spending per capita in Australia remains much lower than in the United States (which spent 8508 USD per capita in 2011) and a number of other OECD countries including Norway, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
Health expenditure as a share of GDP, OECD countries, 2011
% GDP
18
17.7

Current expenditure
16 14 12
10
11.9 11.6 11.3 11.2 11.1 11.0 10.8 10.5 10.3 10.2

Capital expenditure

9.6 9.5 9.4 9.3 9.3 9.3 9.2 9.1 9.0 9.0 8.9 8.9 8.9

8 6 4
2

8.2 7.9 7.9 7.7 7.5 7.5 7.4

6.9 6.2 6.1 5.9

1. Capital expenditure included but not separated out. 2. Capital expenditure not reported.

US$ PPP per capita

9000
8508

Health expenditure per capita, public and private expenditure, OECD countries, 2011
Public Private

8000
7000

6000
5000

5669 5643 5099

4755

4546 4522 4495 4495 4118 4061

3925 3800

4000
3000

3700
3405 3374 3339 3305 3213 3182 3072 3012 2619 2421 2361 2239 2198

2000
1000

1966 1915

1689 1568

1452 1303
977 906

1. In the Netherlands, it is not possible to distinguish clearly the public and private share for the part of health expenditures related to capital expenditure. 2. Total expenditure excluding capital expenditure. Source: OECD Health Data 2013, June 2013.

Data are expressed in US dollars adjusted for purchasing power parities (PPPs), which provide a means of comparing spending between countries on a common base. PPPs are the rates of currency conversion that equalise the cost of a given basket of goods and services in different count ries.

Between 2000 and 2009, total health spending in Australia increased, in real terms, by 4.5% per year on average, but as in many other OECD countries, this growth rate slowed down markedly in 2010 to 1.4%. The public sector is the main source of health funding in all OECD countries, except Chile, Mexico and the United States. In Australia, 67.8% of health spending was funded by public sources in financial year 2010-11, below the average of 72.2% in OECD countries. Resources in the health sector (human, physical, technological) In 2011, Australia had 3.3 practising physicians per 1000 population, slightly above the OECD average (3.2). Australia has maintained a balance between general practitioners and specialists, each at around 1.5 per 1000 population. There were 10.1 nurses per 1000 population in Australia in 2011, a figure higher than the OECD average of 8.7. The number of hospital beds in Australia was 3.8 per 1000 population in 2010, less than the OECD average (4.8). As in most OECD countries, the number of hospital beds per capita in Australia has fallen over time. This decline has coincided with a reduction of average length of stays in hospitals and an increase in the number of same-day surgical procedures. Over the past two decades, there has been rapid growth in diagnostic technologies such as CT scanners and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) units in most OECD countries. In Australia, the number of MRIs increased from 0.6 per million population in 1990 to 5.7 in 2011, although these are only machines eligible for Medicare reimbursement. The OECD average was 13.3 in 2011. Australia had 44.4 CT scanners per million population, well above the OECD average of 23.2. Health status and risk factors Most OECD countries have seen substantial gains in life expectancy over past decades, largely due to improvements in living conditions, public health interventions and progress in medical care. In 2011, life expectancy at birth in Australia was 82 years, almost two years higher than the OECD average of 80.1. Life expectancy in Australia remains among the highest in OECD countries, following Switzerland, Japan, Italy, Iceland, Spain and France. The proportion of adults smoking daily has declined markedly over the past two decades in most OECD countries. Australia has achieved remarkable progress in reducing tobacco consumption, cutting by more than half the percentage of adults who smoke (from 35.4% in 1983 to 15.1% in 2010). The smoking rate in Australia is now one of the lowest in OECD countries. Much of this decline can be attributed to policies aimed at reducing tobacco consumption through public awareness campaigns, advertising bans and increased taxation. Since 1 December 2012, Australia has become the first country in the world to require tobacco products to be sold in plain packaging. Obesity rates have increased in recent decades in all OECD countries, although notable differences remain. In Australia, the adult obesity rate, based on measures of height and weight, was 28.3% in 2011. This is lower than in the United States (36.5% in 2010) and Mexico (32.4% in 2012), but much higher than the average for the 15 OECD countries with recent measured data (22.8%). Obesitys growing prevalence foreshadows increases in the occurrence of health problems (such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases), and higher health care costs in the future. More information on OECD Health Data 2013 is available at www.oecd.org/health/healthdata. For more information on OECD's work on Australia, please visit www.oecd.org/australia.