Diversification of Public Expenditure on Health Care in the Member States of the European Union

Abstract

The purpose of the article/hypothesis: The aim of the article is to analyze the level of public (government) expenditure on health care in individual European Union countries. The research is exploratory, therefore no research hypothesis has been formulated.

Methodology: A comparative analysis of the level of public expenditure on health care in individual European Union countries was carried out. The analysis was based on the following measures from Eurostat databases: health care expenditure as the value of EUR per capita in 2011–2020 and health care expenditure as % of GDP in 2011–2020.

Results of the research: There are in individual countries of the European Union - which can be considered culturally and economically similar - significant differences in the level of public expenditure on health care. In the vast majority of European Union countries, an increase in expenditure on health care has been observed, but also these changes are very diverse in individual countries. This means that the distance between some countries (e.g. Poland), where changes are slower, and other European Union countries, is widening. When creating a ranking of European Union countries in terms of expenditure on health care, one can notice relatively stable positions of countries over the years 2011–2020, with the highest positions occupied by the countries of Western Europe, and the lower ones - by the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The conducted analysis allows to conclude that Poland's position against the background of other European Union countries in terms of public expenditure on health care is weak. This applies not only to the comparison with the developed countries of Western Europe, but also to the comparison with the majority of Central and Eastern European countries.