Romania, Least Money for Health Among EU Member States
Romania ranked second to last among EU member states in terms of the percentage of GDP allocated to health, according to data published by Eurostat. With a value of only 5.71%, Romania edged out Luxembourg (5.67%) and placed below Hungary (6.37%), Ireland (6.58%), Poland (7.14%) or Croatia (7.15%).
For reference, we mention that the average at EU level was 10% (i.e. twice as high as Romania), the highest allocation being found in Germany (11.74%), France (11.50%), Austria and Sweden (both with 11.15%). In absolute terms, European spending on health totalled €1,720 billion, with the amount per capita increasing from €2,668 in 2014 to €3,835 in 2023 (+43.7%).
Relative to population size and in euro terms, current healthcare expenditure in 2023 was highest among EU countries in Luxembourg (€6,888 per inhabitant). It is interesting to note that Luxembourg had the highest ratio per inhabitant despite having the lowest ratio of healthcare expenditure to GDP, reflecting the high level of GDP in Luxembourg. A significant proportion of workers in Luxembourg are cross-border workers and live outside the country and, as non-residents, the expenditure on their healthcare is not included in Luxembourg’s health accounts while their economic activity contributes to Luxembourg’s GDP.
Current healthcare expenditure in the EU increased from €2,668 per person in 2014 to €3,835 in 2023 (+43.7%). The same trend was registered in all EU countries. Between 2014 and 2023, Romania recorded the largest increase in overall healthcare expenditure, with average spending per inhabitant increasing by 155.6%. This ratio had also at least doubled in Bulgaria (+148.9%), Lithuania (+143.8%), Latvia (+135.8%), Poland (+116.6%), Czechia (+116.2%), Estonia (+114.6%) and Croatia (+108.9%). The smallest increase was observed in Sweden (+15.2%).
Following on from Luxembourg, the next highest ratios in 2023 were observed in Ireland, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Sweden, all above €5,700 per inhabitant. In turn, these were followed by Belgium, Finland and France with ratios between €4,700 and €5,500 per inhabitant. There was then a relatively large gap to Malta, Italy, Spain, Slovenia, Cyprus, Portugal and Czechia with ratios above €2,400 but below €3,300 per inhabitant. All of the remaining 10 EU countries recorded average expenditure below €2,100 per inhabitant; one of these, Romania, recorded an average spend on healthcare below €1,000 per inhabitant. The ratio between the highest (Luxembourg) and lowest (Romania) levels of expenditure per inhabitant was 7.1:1.
The disparities in current healthcare expenditure per inhabitant are less apparent when expenditure is expressed in purchasing power standards (PPS). This measure adjusts for differences in price levels between EU countries. Germany (5,413 PPS per inhabitant), Austria (4,900 PPS per inhabitant) and the Netherlands (4,848 PPS per inhabitant) recorded the highest ratios of healthcare expenditure per inhabitant in PPS terms.
Again, Romania (1,776 PPS per inhabitant) had the lowest ratio, preceded by Hungary (1,925 PPS per inhabitant), Latvia (1,977 PPS per inhabitant), under the 2,000 PPS mark. As such, by taking account of price level differences, the ratio between the highest (Germany) and lowest (Romania) levels of healthcare expenditure per inhabitant was considerably smaller than the equivalent ratio in euro terms mentioned above, as it was 3:1.
All in all, it can be seen that, although we have increased above seven other Member States in terms of GDP/capita, Romania still remained the “red lantern” of health spending. This raises a major question mark about the way decisions have been made regarding the benefits of development towards a Western level.
Photo source: PxHere.com.
