Health Expenditure Increased by 4.7% in 2023
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Loading... - Adina Lewis
- 08 Jul 2024
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In 2023, current expenditure on health in Portugal increased by 4.7%, reaching approximately 26.55 billion euros, according to estimates by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). This amount translates to 2,574.2 euros per capita and constitutes 10% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Preliminary data indicates that both current public expenditure (3.7% increase) and private expenditure (6.6% increase) continued to rise, driven by the growth in activities of public and private hospitals as well as private outpatient healthcare providers, including doctors' and dentists' offices and multi-specialty medical clinics.
In the previous year, 2022, current health expenditure had risen by 5.6%, totaling 25.37 billion euros, which was 10.5% of GDP and 2,463.4 euros per capita. This increase was mainly attributed to the ongoing recovery of non-COVID-19 related healthcare services that began in 2021.
In 2023, public current expenditure accounted for 64.8% of total health expenditure, a decrease of 0.4 percentage points from 65.2% in 2021. The INE's data, which are final for 2021, provisional for 2022, and preliminary for 2023, were prepared based on information available up to the end of April 2024.
The INE estimates that the relative weight of public current expenditure will continue to decrease by 0.6 percentage points in 2023 due to its slower growth compared to private current expenditure. Public current expenditure is expected to have increased by 3.7% in 2023, primarily reflecting higher personnel costs for public service providers. However, there was a significant reduction in spending on COVID-19 vaccinations and tests, which negatively affected the evolution of public spending.
Private current expenditure is estimated to have grown by 6.6% in 2023, driven by increased healthcare activity from private providers, particularly hospitals and outpatient services. Public hospital expenditure grew by 7.8%, attributed to the rise in intermediate consumption (pharmaceutical products, clinical consumables, etc.) and personnel costs (hiring, career repositioning, etc.).
The INE highlighted that these increases partly reflect the integration of Hospital de Loures EPE into the public hospital system. This hospital had been managed under a public-private partnership until January 18, 2022, and its inclusion in the public system contributed to the rise in public hospital expenditure.
Overall, the data underscores the significant growth in both public and private healthcare expenditure in Portugal, driven by increased healthcare activities and rising costs.
