What does this tell us about how much we can afford to spend? Some countries, like the Netherlands and Germany are wealthier than the UK (they have higher GDP per head3). In 2022, GDP per head in Germany was 16% higher than the UK, while the Netherlands was 29% higher. This means they can afford to spend more on health. If we were in the same position economically, the projections we set out last week would feel less daunting. The size of the pie is bigger, so even if these countries spend the same share of their national income on health as the UK, the level of spending is higher.Â
Even with a difficult economic position, investing more in health is still possible. It just creates more challenging political and economic trade-offs: France invested 26% more per head than the UK in health, despite their economic performance being similar to the UK’s, with a GDP per capita 1% higher than our own.Â