Healthcare expenditure statistics by function

This article presents detailed statistics on expenditure and financing aspects of healthcare in the European Union (EU), with analyses by financing scheme, function and provider. An overview of healthcare expenditure statistics is available in a separate article.
Healthcare systems are financed and organised in different ways across the EU countries, but universal access to quality healthcare, at an affordable cost to both individuals and society at large, is widely regarded as a basic right in the EU.

Statistics on healthcare expenditure and financing can be used to evaluate how a healthcare system responds to the challenge of universal access to quality healthcare, through measuring financial resources available for the healthcare sector and the allocation of these resources between healthcare activities (for example, preventive and curative care) or groups of healthcare providers (for example, hospitals and ambulatory centres).

This article forms part of an online publication on Health in the European Union - facts and figures.

It should be noted that the latest data presented in this article are for 2022. Therefore, the data in this article show the situation after the initial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. For this reason, particular attention should be paid when comparing 2022 data with data for 2021 and 2020 and when comparing data for 2021 and 2020 with earlier years.