When the ratio of health expenditures to GDP is analyzed, Türkiye has diverged from other countries since 2010 and entered a downward trend. This shows that the resources allocated to health as a share of GDP are gradually decreasing. While for 38 OECD countries, the OECD average of the ratio of health expenditures to GDP was 9.7%, this ratio remained at 4.6% in Türkiye, the lowest among OECD countries. Türkiye has also fallen behind the average of OECD Key Partner Countries.
Chart: Ratio of Healthcare Expenditures to GDP (%)
Source: OECD
OECD Key Partner Countries: Brazil, China, South Africa, India
*data from all 38 OECD member countries
The decline in health expenditures is also seen in public pharmaceutical expenditures. From the start of the implementation of the health transformation reforms until 2008, the ratio of the pharmaceutical budget to national income was kept at around 1.3%-1.4%, but increased to 1.7% in 2009 due to the economic crisis.
In 2009, due to the economic contraction, health payments, one of the main expenditure items of the organization, were scrutinized, and this area was subjected to restrictions by evaluating that pharmaceutical expenditures were an important budget instrument. With the instruments used, the SSI pharmaceutical budget dropped to 0.8% of GDP between 2015 and 2017, before increasing again in the following years, reaching 0.95% of GDP in 2020. In 2021, this figure declined to 0.84%.
Chart: Share of Total (Public and Private) Health Expenditures and of Expenditures on Medicines to GDP
Source: OECD
As of 2020, share of public health expenditures to total health expenditures is 78.8%, higher than the OECD average of 76.3% and higher than in many OECD countries.
Chart: Ratio of Public Health Expenditures to Total Health Expenditures, %
Source: OECD
The ratio of out-of-pocket health expenditures in total health expenditures in 2020 was 16% in Türkiye, while the average ratio was 18.3% in OECD countries.
Chart: Ratio of out-of-pocket Health Expenditures to Total Health Expenditures, %
Source: OECD
Chart: Key Indicators for Health Expenditures, 2020, 2021
Source: TÜİK, December 2022
While health expenditure per capita was 2,997 TL in 2020, it increased by 40.3% to 4,206 TL in 2021.
Chart: Healthcare Expenditures per capita, 2012-2021 (TÜİK, December 2022)
Source: TÜİK 2022
