UK nears European average in proportion of GDP spent on health care

doi:10.1136/bmj.39140.341736.DB

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Anne Griffin

Between 2000 and 2004 the increase in spending on health in the United Kingdom as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) was bigger than the increases in France, Germany, and Italy, says a new report from the Office of Health Economics (OHE).

This means that the gap between the UK and other European countries such as Germany and France in total spending on health as a percentage of GDP has narrowed.

Total spending on health care in the UK rose to an estimated £120bn in 2006, representing 9.4% of GDP, up from 7.1% in 2001. Referring to Tony Blair's promise in 2000 to bring NHS funding up to European levels, Jon Sussex, the office's deputy director, said, “The spending …