Bank of Israel research found that Israel spent the fifth least amount (both public and private health expenditure) amounting to 7.7% of GDP.
Expenditure on health in Israel is among the lowest in OECD member countries, according to research conducted by Eran Politzer of the Bank of Israel research division. The research found that Israel spent the fifth least amount (both public and private expenditure) amounting to 7.7% of GDP. Only Poland, Estonia, South Korea and Mexico spent a smaller percentage. Australia spent 9.1%, Japan 9.5%, the UK 9.8% and the US 17.7%.
If only public expenditure is examined (money funded by the government and National Insurance Institute), then Israel slips into fourth from last with just 4.7% of GDP spent. The research found that 40% of health expenditure in Israel is private compared with the OECD average of 28%.
Politzer offers explanations for this low amount including the fact that Israel has a relatively young population for an OECD country and with the elderly requiring more health expenditure this makes a major contribution to Israel's lower spending.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 2, 2013
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