Latvia allocates smallest share of GDP to healthcare in EU

  • 2007-02-23
  • From wire reports
Latvia allocated only 3 percent of its gross domestic product to health care, which is the smallest share among the European Union member states, according to data from the European statistics office Eurostat.
Even though both other Baltic countries also spend quite a small share of the GDP, their allocations are larger than Latvia's. Lithuania spends 3.9 percent, and Estonia 4.2 percent of its GDP on health care.
The largest share of the GDP allocated for health care in the EU is for France, with 8.9 percent, followed by Sweden with 8.5 percent, the Netherlands with 8.2 percent and Germany with 8.1 percent of the GDP.
Among the new EU members, who joined the bloc in 2004, Slovenia spends the largest share of its GDP on health care, 7.8 percent, which is also one of the highest indicators among all EU countries.
The average share of the GDP spent on health care in the EU is 7.6 percent.
The Eurostat data also show that Norway, which is not a member of the EU, is the European leader in this aspect, spending 9.4 percent of its GDP on health care.