The European Union (EU) allocated €1.72 trillion to healthcare in 2023, an amount equal to 10 per cent of the bloc’s gross domestic product, according to Eurostat.
Germany recorded the highest level of current healthcare expenditure among EU member states, reaching €492 billion in 2023.
France followed with €325 billion, Italy with €179 billion and Spain with €138 billion.
Relative to national output, Germany also posted the highest ratio, with healthcare spending amounting to 11.74 per cent of GDP.
France registered a similar level at 11.5 per cent, while Austria and Sweden both recorded 11.2 per cent.
By contrast, the lowest ratios in the EU were found in Luxembourg and Romania, which each allocated 5.7 per cent of GDP to current healthcare expenditure, followed by Hungary at 6.4 per cent and Ireland at 6.6 per cent.
Cyprus spent 8.12 per cent of its GDP on healthcare in 2023, placing it below the EU average but ahead of several member states in the region.
At the same time, Greece allocated 8.39 per cent of its national output to healthcare.
In per capita terms, current healthcare expenditure in the EU increased from €2,668 per person in 2014 to €3,835 in 2023, marking a rise of 43.7 per cent over the nine-year period.
Eurostat reported that all EU countries experienced growth in spending per inhabitant over the same timeframe.
Romania recorded the largest increase between 2014 and 2023, as average healthcare spending per person rose by 155.6 per cent.
Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Czechia, Estonia and Croatia also more than doubled their per capita spending over the same period.
Sweden, meanwhile, registered the smallest rise at 15.2 per cent.
In 2023, average healthcare spending per inhabitant reached €3,834.89 across the EU and €4,307.06 in the euro area.
Cyprus recorded annual spending per person of €2,656.85, while Greece stood at €1,816.24.
Switzerland and Liechtenstein reported significantly higher figures at €10,876.43 and €10,561.66 respectively, while Luxembourg reached €6,887.88.
These trends underline the continued rise in healthcare expenditure across Europe, with Cyprus remaining below the EU average in both per capita spending and its share of GDP but continuing to increase investment in line with wider European developments.
