Health system statistics show how much countries spend on care, who finances it, how outcomes differ, and what capacity is available. The figures below focus on the United States, with OECD comparisons where stated, and keep each measurement period and geography explicit.
Contents
- U.S. health spending
- Who pays and who is covered
- Age, sex, and regional differences
- International spending and outcomes
- Mortality and avoidable admissions
- U.S. health indicators
- Workforce and physical capacity
U.S. health spending
The United States spent $5.3 trillion on national health expenditures in 2024, an increase of 7.2%. That total equaled $15,474 per person and represented 18.0% of U.S. gross domestic product. These are national totals for 2024, not household budgets or individual medical bills. (CMS NHE Fact Sheet)
Spending varied substantially by service category:
- Hospital expenditures grew 8.9% to $1,634.7 billion in 2024.
- Physician and clinical services expenditures grew 8.1% to $1,109.7 billion.
- Prescription drug spending increased 7.9% to $467.0 billion.
- Out-of-pocket spending grew 5.9% to $556.6 billion.
- Other third-party payers and public health activity spending declined 7.0% to $590.5 billion.
The largest named spending totals were therefore hospitals, physician and clinical services, and prescription drugs, while the growth rates differed across categories. (CMS NHE Fact Sheet)
Public program spending was also substantial. Medicare spending grew 7.8% to $1,118.0 billion in 2024, while Medicaid spending grew 6.6% to $931.7 billion. Private health insurance spending grew 8.8% to $1,644.6 billion. (CMS NHE Fact Sheet)
Looking ahead, the CMS projection gives average annual national health expenditure growth of 5.8% from 2024 through 2033, compared with projected average annual GDP growth of 4.3% over the same period. Health spending is projected to rise from 17.6% of GDP in 2023 to 20.3% in 2033. These are forecasts, not observed results. (CMS NHE Fact Sheet)
Who pays and who is covered
The 2024 spending picture can be grouped by the organization or sector ultimately associated with the spending:
| Sector | 2024 health spending | Share of total NHE |
|---|---|---|
| Federal government | $1.7 trillion | 31% |
| Households | $1.5 trillion | 28% |
| Private business | $967.4 billion | 18% |
| State and local government | $859.7 billion | 16% |
The listed shares describe the distribution of total national health expenditures; they should not be read as the percentage paid directly at the point of care. (CMS NHE Fact Sheet)
The insured share of the U.S. population was projected at 92.1% in 2024. Medicaid enrollment was projected to decline 7.9% to 84.5 million in 2024. A separate projection expects direct-purchase enrollment to decline by 4.7 million in 2026, a 12.3% drop. The 2026 figure is a forecast and should not be treated as a 2024 enrollment observation. (CMS NHE Fact Sheet)
Age, sex, and regional differences
Personal health care spending differed markedly by age in 2020. Per-person spending was $22,356 for people age 65 and older, $9,154 for working-age people, and $4,217 for children. Children represented about 23% of the population but about 10% of personal health care spending, while older adults represented about 17% of the population but about 37% of spending. (CMS NHE Fact Sheet)
There was also a reported sex difference in 2020. Female per-person personal health care spending was $10,887, which was 14% higher than male spending. This is a population-level spending measure and does not describe the cost of every woman’s or man’s care. (CMS NHE Fact Sheet)
Per-capita personal health care spending varied by state and region in 2020:
| Geography | Per-capita spending or comparison | Measurement |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $14,007 | Per-capita personal health care spending |
| Utah | $7,522 | Per-capita personal health care spending |
| New England | $12,728 | 25% above the national average |
| Mideast | $12,577 | 23% above the national average |
| Rocky Mountain | $8,497 | 17% below the national average |
| Southwest | $8,587 | 16% below the national average |
State health spending also differed as a share of state economic output. In 2020, health spending equaled 28.7% of West Virginia’s state GDP and 11.7% of Washington state’s GDP. (CMS NHE Fact Sheet)
International spending and outcomes
Across OECD countries, average health expenditure per capita was nearly USD 6,000 in 2024. The United States spent over USD 14,880 per person, about 2.5 times the OECD average. OECD countries allocated an average of 9.3% of GDP to health in 2024, and public sources financed about three-quarters of health spending on average. (OECD Health expenditure per capita; OECD Health at a Glance 2025; OECD Health spending projections)
Spending is only one way to describe a health system. Life expectancy at birth averaged 81.1 years across OECD countries in 2023. The average was 83.7 years for women and 78.5 years for men, producing an average gender gap of 5.2 years. (OECD Life expectancy at birth)
Healthy life-years expected at age 60 averaged 18.3 years for women and 16.2 years for men across OECD countries in 2021. This measure concerns expected years in good health, not total remaining life expectancy. (OECD Healthy life expectancy at older ages)
Mortality and avoidable admissions
Avoidable mortality averaged 222 deaths per 100,000 people across OECD countries in 2023. The average consisted of 145 preventable deaths and 77 treatable deaths per 100,000. Among OECD men, avoidable mortality averaged 303 deaths per 100,000, compared with 149 among OECD women. (OECD Avoidable mortality)
Some acute-care measures improved over the decade ending in 2023. Thirty-day mortality after acute myocardial infarction averaged 6.5% across OECD countries in 2023, down from 8.2% in 2013. Thirty-day mortality after ischaemic stroke averaged 7.7% in 2023, down from 9.3% in 2013. (OECD Executive summary)
Avoidable hospital admissions for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease averaged 155 admissions per 100,000 population across OECD countries in 2023, after a 35% fall from 2013 to 2023. Infant mortality averaged 4.0 deaths per 1,000 live births across OECD countries in 2021–2023. (OECD Avoidable hospital admissions; OECD Maternal and infant mortality)
The U.S. measures in the OECD country profile were different from the OECD averages. U.S. life expectancy was 78.4 years, 2.7 years below the OECD average. U.S. preventable mortality was 217 deaths per 100,000 population, and treatable mortality was 95 deaths per 100,000. U.S. suicide mortality was 15 deaths per 100,000. (OECD Health at a Glance 2025: United States)
U.S. health indicators
The U.S. country profile also reported several population health indicators. In the referenced OECD comparison, 3.4% of people in the United States rated their health as bad or very bad. Daily smoking prevalence was 8.0%, alcohol consumption was 9.5 liters per person age 15 and older, and 36% of adults did not perform sufficient physical activity. Self-reported obesity prevalence was 35%. (OECD Health at a Glance 2025: United States)
These indicators describe different concepts and should not be combined into a single health score. Smoking prevalence is a behavior measure, alcohol consumption is reported per person age 15 and older, physical activity is a share of adults, and obesity is self-reported prevalence. Their denominators and definitions are not interchangeable. (OECD Health at a Glance 2025: United States)
Workforce and physical capacity
Health system capacity includes people as well as buildings and equipment. The United States had 2.7 practising doctors per 1,000 population and 12.4 practising nurses per 1,000 population in the cited OECD country profile. It had 4.1 long-term care workers per 100 people age 65 and older. (OECD Health at a Glance 2025: United States)
The same profile reported 99 pharmacists per 100,000 population and 2.8 hospital beds per 1,000 population. For advanced imaging, the United States had 86 CT scanners, MRI units, and PET scanners per million population. The imaging figure is a combined equipment measure, while doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and beds use different denominators. (OECD Health at a Glance 2025: United States)
Together, these statistics describe a system with high per-person spending, broad but changing coverage projections, large differences by age and geography, and measurable gaps between U.S. and OECD outcome averages. The dates matter: U.S. spending figures are mainly from 2024, many U.S. population and regional comparisons are from 2020, OECD outcome measures range from 2021 through 2023, and some enrollment and spending figures are forecasts.