Health at a Glance:

The Commission has published its second edition of ‘Health at a Glance: Europe 2012’. This publication, developed in cooperation with the OECD, presents data in relation to key indicators (such as  of health status, determinants of health, health care resources and activities, quality of care, health expenditure and financing) in 35 European countries.

The report contains charts illustrating variations across countries and over time, analyses highlighting the major findings, information on the indicators and limitations in data comparability. Moreover, additional information on the demographic and economic context within which health systems operate is provided.

The report underlines that health spending fell for the first time in decades in 2010, both in terms of health spending per person as well as a percentage of GDP. From an annual average growth rate of 4.6% between 2000 and 2009, health spending per person fell to -0.6% in 2010.

While the report does not show any worsening health outcome due to the crisis, it underlines that efficient health spending is necessary to ensure the fundamental goal of health systems in EU

Interestingly, governments are cutting other expenditures such as public health and prevention programmes. In 2010, the expenditure was 3.2% less than the year before. This means that on average across EU countries, only 3% of a shrinking health budget was allocated to prevention and public health programmes in areas such as immunisation, smoking, alcohol drinking, nutrition and physical activity. However, the report emphasizes that spending on prevention now can be much more cost-effective than treating diseases in the future. 

Other findings from the report include: 

•    Health spending as a share of GDP was highest in the Netherlands (12%) in 2010, followed by France and Germany (11.6%). The share of GDP allocated to health was 9.0% on average across EU countries, down from 9.2% in 2009.
• Doctors: The number of doctors per capita has increased in almost all EU member states over the past decade from an average 2.9 per 1 000 population in 2000 to 3.4 in 2010. Growth was particularly rapid in Greece and the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, future shortages of health workforce remain a serious concern in many European countries.
• Generalist/Specialist balance: There are now many more specialists than GPs in nearly all countries due to lack of interest in traditional “family medicine” practice and a growing remuneration gap. The slow growth or reduction in generalists raises concerns about access to primary care for certain population groups. 

For the report: Report(2 MB)