The document is an OECD report on health data from 2012 that compares US health spending to other countries. It finds that the US spends over two times the OECD average on health care per capita, spending $8,233 PPP compared to an average of $3,309 PPP. It also spends a higher percentage of its GDP on health care than any other country, allocating 17.6% of GDP compared to an average of 9% among OECD countries.

1. OECD Health Data 2012
U.S. health care
system from
an international
perspective
Released on June 28, 2012
http://www.oecd.org/health/healthdata

2. Why is the US health
spending so high?

3. US spends two-and-a-half times the OECD average
Total health expenditure per capita, public and private, 2010 (or nearest year)
USD PPP
8 000
8 233
Public expenditure on health Private expenditure on health
5 388
5 270
5 056
6 000
4 786
4 464
4 445
4 395
4 338
3 974
3 969
3 758
3 718
3 670
3 433
3 268
3 309
3 251
3 076
3 035
3 022
4 000
2 964
2 914
2 728
2 428
2 095
2 165
2 035
1 884
1 601
1 389
1 294
1 202
2 000
916
913
0
1. In the Netherlands, it is not possible to clearly distinguish the public and private share related to investments.
2. Total expenditure excluding investments.
Information on data for Israel: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932315602.
Source: OECD Health Data 2012.

4. At 17.6% of GDP in 2010, US health spending is one and a
half as much as any other country, and nearly twice the OECD
average
Total health expenditure as a share of GDP, 2010 (or nearest year)
% of GDP
20
17.6
18
16 Public Private
14
12.0
11.6
11.6
11.4
11.4
11.1
11.0
10.7
10.5
10.2
10.1
12
9.6
9.6
9.6
9.5
9.5
9.4
9.3
9.3
9.2
9.1
9.0
9.0
8.9
10
8.0
7.9
7.9
7.8
7.5
7.1
7.0
8
6.3
6.2
6.1
6
4
2
0
1. In the Netherlands, it is not possible to clearly distinguish the public and private share related to investments.
2. Total expenditure excluding investments.
Information on data for Israel: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932315602.
4
Source: OECD Health Data 2012.

5. US spends much more on health than what might
be expected by its GDP per capita
Health spending per 2010 (or latest year available)
capita (USD PPP)
USA
8 000
7 000
6 000
CHE NOR
5 000 NLD
LUX
CAN DNK
DEU AUT
BEL
4 000 FRA
SWE IRE
GBR AUS
NZL ESP ISL FIN
3 000 GRC JPN
R² = 0.6065 ITA
PRT
SVK SVN
ISR
2 000 KOR
CZE
POL HUN
CHL EST
1 000 MEX
TUR
0
0 10 000 20 000 30 000 40 000 50 000 60 000 70 000 80 000 90 000
GDP per capita (USD PPP)
5
Source: OECD Health Data 2012.

6. US health spending is much greater for all categories of care,
particularly for ambulatory care and administration cost
2010 (or latest year available)
Current health spending
per capita (USD PPP) Other
9 000
$7,910 Public health and administration
(193%)
8 000
$856 Pharmaceuticals and medical goods
(296%)
7 000
$1,105 Ambulatory health care
6 000 (155%)
$5,270 Hospitals/Nursing homes
5 000 $331
$2,852 $460 $4,205 $4,187
(236%) $3,835
4 000 $416 $281
$1,677 $300
$853 $904 $2,979
3 000 $836 $120
$507
$1,188 $1,278
2 000 $1,082 $810
$3,097
(168%) $2,802
1 000 $1,716 $1,574 $1,582 $1,543
0
United States Switzerland Canada Germany France Japan (2009)
Note: Health spending excludes investments. The percentages in the US bar indicate how much
more the US spends per category compared with the average of the five other OECD countries. 6
Source: OECD Health Data 2012.

7. Is US health spending higher
due to higher prices or higher
service provision? (or both?)

8. US prices for a set of hospital services are over 60%
higher than the average of 12 OECD countries
Comparative price levels for total inpatient hospital services, 2007
Source: Koechlin et al. (2010).

9. US prices for certain procedures are much
higher than in other OECD countries
(US dollars, 2007)
Procedures AUS CAN DEU FIN FRA SWE USA
Appendectomy 5 044 5 004 2 943 3 739 4 558 4 961 7 962
Normal delivery 2 984 2 800 1 789 1 521 2 894 2 591 4 451
Caesarean section 7 092 4 820 3 732 4 808 5 820 6 375 7 449
Coronary angioplasty 7 131 9 277 3 347 5 574 7 027 9 296 14 378
Coronary artery bypass graft 21 698 22 694 14 067 23 468 23 126 21 218 34 358
Hip replacement 15 918 11 983 8 899 10 834 11 162 11 568 17 406
Knee replacement 14 608 9 910 10 011 9 931 12 424 10 348 14 946
Source: Koechlin et al. (2010).

10. Where the United States health system does
LESS than other countries
United States Rank compared OECD average
with OECD
countries
2.4 3.1
Practising physicians 26th
per 1000 population per 1000 population
3.9 6.4
Doctor consultations 29th
per capita per capita
3.1 4.9
Hospital beds 28th
per 1000 population per 1000 population
131.0 155.1
Hospital discharges 26th
per 1000 population per 1000 population
Average length of 4.9 7.1
29th
stay in hospitals days days
Source: OECD Health Data 2012.

11. Where the United States health system does
MORE than other countries
United States Rank compared OECD average
with OECD
countries
31.6 12.5
MRI units 2nd
per million population per million population
97.7 46.3
MRI exams 2nd
per 1 000 population per 1 000 population
40.7 22.6
CT scanners 3rd
per million population per million population
265.0 123.8
CT exams 3rd
per 1 000 population per 1 000 population
254.4 130.1
Tonsillectomy 1st
per 100 000 population per 100 000 population
79.0 47.3
Coronary bypass 3rd
per 100 000 population per 100 000 population
226.0 121.6
Knee replacements 1st
per 100 000 population per 100 000 population
32.9 26.1
Caesarean sections 6th
per 100 live births per 100 live births
Source: OECD Health Data 2012.

12. Is the quality of care
better in the US?

13. Cancer system is generally performing well
Breast cancer, 5-year survival rate Colorectal cancer, 5-year survival rate
United States (2003-08) 89.3 Japan (2000-05) 68.0
Japan (2000-05) 87.3 United States (2003-08) 64.5
Canada (2002-07) 86.6 Canada (2002-07) 63.4
OECD (16 countries) 83.5 Germany (2003-08) 60.4
Germany (2003-08) 83.3 OECD (16 countries) 59.9
France (1997-2002) 82.8 France (1997-2002) 57.0
United Kingdom (2004-09) 81.3 United Kingdom (2004-09) 53.3
60 70 80 90 100 40 50 60 70 80
Age-standardised rates (%) Age-standardised rates (%)
Note: 95% confidence intervals are represented by H.
Source: OECD Health Data 2012.

14. Primary care sector is not performing so well
Asthma hospital admission COPD hospital admission
Canada (2009) 15.7 France (2007) 79
Italy (2009) 19.2 Italy (2009) 126
Germany (2009) 20.8 Canada (2009) 183
France (2007) 43.4 OECD (28 countries) 198
OECD (28 countries) 51.8 Germany (2009) 201
United Kingdom (2009) 73.7 United Kingdom (2009) 213
United States (2008) 120.6 United States (2008) 230
0 50 100 150 0 100 200 300
Age-sex standardised rates per 100 000 population Age-sex standardised rates per 100 000 population
Note: 95% confidence intervals are represented by H.
Source: OECD Health Data 2012.

15. What are the trends in
key risk factors to health
in the US?

16. Smoking rates have decreased in the US and
in most other OECD countries
Adult population smoking daily
2010 Change 2000-10
13.3 Mexico n.a.
15.1 United states -20.9
15.1 Australia -23.7
16.3 Canada -27.2
19.5 Japan -27.8
20.9 OECD -19.9
21.5 United Kingdom -20.4
21.9 Germany -11.3
23.1 Italy -5.3
23.3 France -13.7
25 20 15 10 5 0 -50 -25 0 25
% of population aged 15 years and over % change over period
Source: OECD Health Data 2012.

17. Obesity rates have increased substantially over
the past 20 years and are highest in the US
%
40
36
1990 2000 2010
31
30
30
26
25
24
24
23
22
21
20
17
15
14
13
13
12
11
10
10
9
10
9
6
4
3
2
0
1. Data are based on measurements rather than self-reported height and weight.
Source: OECD Health Data 2012.

18. Over one-third of children in the US are
overweight or obese
Children aged 5-17 years who are overweight (including obese)
Girls Boys
37.0 Greece 45.0
35.9 United States 35.0
30.9 Italy 32.4
29.0 Mexico 28.1
26.6 United Kingdom 22.7
26.1 Canada 28.9
24.0 Australia 22.0
21.4 OECD 22.9
17.6 Germany 22.6
14.9 France 13.1
14.4 Japan 16.2
50 40 30 20 10 0 0 10 20 30 40 50
% of children aged 5-17 years % of children aged 5-17 years
Source: International Association for the Study of Obesity (2011).

19. More information
http://www.oecd.org/health/healthdata