Global Health Spending

How much the world spends on health and what share of global GDP it represents, based on World Health Organization data.

Updated October 1, 2026
3 min read
1 source
Global

Executive Summary

Global health spending kept rising in 2021, the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching US$ 9.8 trillion. That is about a tenth of the world economy, or 10.3% of global GDP.

Key Numbers

Global spending, 2021: $9.8T[1]; Total health spending worldwide.
Share of global GDP: 10.3%[1]; Health spending as a share of world output.

Market Size

Global health spending, 2021: US$ 9.8 trillion [1]
Share of global GDP, 2021: 10.3% [1]

The WHO says the increase came mainly from higher government spending and higher out-of-pocket spending by households [1].

Key Trends

In low-income countries, foreign aid for health played an important role in supporting government spending [1]. The WHO warns that keeping government spending and aid at 2021 levels may be hard as the global economic outlook worsens [1].

Methodology

Figures come from the WHO's global health spending report [1]. Spending includes government, private and external (aid) sources. This report has no chart yet because only single-year totals are cited.

Sources

[1]
Global spending on health: Coping with the pandemic / World Health Organization (WHO) / 2023 / Accessed October 1, 2026 / View source

Figures are reproduced from the publishers above. Calculations marked as our own are derived from these figures. Always check the original source before using a number.

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