Proportion of population facing impoverishing out-of-pocket health expenditure, based on the societal poverty line (%) by country

Proportion of population spending more than 100% of household discretionary budget on out-of-pocket health expenditure (%). This includes people living in poverty that are further impoverished due to out-of-pocket health expenditure as well as people who are pushed into poverty by out-of-pocket health expenditure....

Countries reporting
76
Highest
42.2%
Nigeria
Lowest
3.6%
Andorra
Median
12.0%
Years covered
40
1985–2024
Data points
1,148

What the numbers show

Proportion of population facing impoverishing out-of-pocket health expenditure, based on the societal poverty line (%) is currently reported for 76 countries. The highest value is 42.2% in Nigeria; the lowest is 3.6% in Andorra.

The median across all reporting countries is 12.0%, and the mean is 15.9%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 12.

Over the past decade 28 countries rose and 47 fell. The largest increase was in El Salvador (up 164.9%), and the largest decrease in Colombia (down 61.0%).

Proportion of population facing impoverishing out-of-pocket health exp: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Nigeria 42.2% 2022 up 11.6% rising
2 Malawi 42.0% 2019 up 11.4% falling
3 Mali 36.9% 2022 down 22.0% falling
4 Niger 35.7% 2021 down 30.3% falling
5 Burkina Faso 33.6% 2021 down 37.3% rising
6 Cameroon 32.5% 2022 down 11.3% falling
7 Uganda 31.4% 2019 down 19.6% falling
8 Benin 28.9% 2021 down 43.0% falling
9 Philippines 28.6% 2023 down 16.4% falling
10 Pakistan 28.5% 2018 down 22.1% falling
11 Bangladesh 27.6% 2022 up 21.1% flat
12 Senegal 26.7% 2021 down 36.5% falling
13 Togo 26.2% 2021 down 33.8% falling
14 Tajikistan 25.6% 2019 up 43.7% rising
15 Indonesia 25.2% 2023 down 16.3% falling
16 Nicaragua 24.2% 2014 down 19.8% rising
17 Cote d'Ivoire 24.2% 2021 down 9.9% rising
18 Peru 23.4% 2022 up 14.2% falling
19 Ethiopia 23.2% 2021 down 25.6% falling
20 India 22.3% 2022 down 36.0% falling
21 Mongolia 21.9% 2023 up 47.1% rising
22 Egypt 21.1% 2019 up 3.0% flat
23 South Africa 20.6% 2014 down 33.7% falling
24 Ghana 20.5% 2016 down 49.6% falling
25 Paraguay 20.1% 2023 up 8.9% falling
26 Vietnam 19.5% 2020 down 24.6% falling
27 Jamaica 19.3% 2021 down 1.4% rising
28 Palestine 18.8% 2023 up 51.0% rising
29 Nepal 18.5% 2022 down 27.0% falling
30 Tunisia 18.3% 2021 up 1.8% falling
31 Georgia 18.0% 2024 down 20.7% flat
32 Cambodia 14.1% 2023 up 12.7% falling
33 Zambia 14.0% 2015 down 45.1% falling
34 Mexico 13.6% 2022 up 24.9% falling
35 Greece 13.3% 2023 up 62.8% flat
36 Luxembourg 12.6% 2023 down 8.4% rising
37 Hungary 12.3% 2007 up 104.0% rising
38 Russia 12.2% 2014 down 39.9% falling
39 Israel 11.7% 2021 down 23.4% falling
40 Portugal 11.5% 2022 up 2.6% rising
41 Chile 11.4% 2021 up 0.4% falling
42 Turkey 11.3% 2016 up 1.9% rising
43 Iran 11.3% 2022 down 4.2% falling
44 Armenia 11.0% 2020 down 16.6% rising
45 Bolivia 11.0% 2021 down 29.1% rising
46 Albania 10.9% 2017 down 11.1% falling
47 Thailand 10.7% 2017 down 32.9% falling
48 Latvia 10.2% 2019 up 36.4% falling
49 Ukraine 10.2% 2019 down 1.8% falling
50 Romania 9.8% 2016 up 35.6% rising
51 Sri Lanka 9.5% 2019 down 33.7% falling
52 Spain 9.2% 2023 up 13.9% rising
53 El Salvador 8.8% 2019 up 164.9% rising
54 Bulgaria 8.7% 2023 down 26.0% falling
55 Poland 8.6% 2019 down 22.9% falling
56 Bhutan 8.6% 2022 up 141.3% rising
57 Serbia 8.5% 2022 up 2.4% flat
58 Slovakia 8.1% 2022 up 39.6% falling
59 Montenegro 8.0% 2015 down 18.4% flat
60 Mauritius 7.9% 2023 down 8.9% flat
61 Belarus 7.8% 2020 down 37.8% falling
62 Kyrgyzstan 7.3% 2022 up 26.1% falling
63 Switzerland 7.3% 2017 down 3.4% flat
64 Czechia 7.2% 2023 up 28.6% rising
65 North Macedonia 7.1% 2024 down 16.8% falling
66 Kazakhstan 7.0% 2018 down 36.6% falling
67 Croatia 6.9% 2010 down 18.8% rising
68 Colombia 6.3% 2021 down 61.0% falling
69 United Kingdom 6.2% 2021 up 14.3% rising
70 Bosnia and Herzegovina 6.2% 2022 down 27.9% falling
71 Estonia 5.8% 2011 down 26.6% falling
72 United States 5.3% 2023 down 22.7% falling
73 Moldova 5.3% 2023 down 46.1% falling
74 Slovenia 4.3% 2022 up 30.3% falling
75 Lithuania 4.1% 2021 down 46.3% falling
76 Andorra 3.6% 2023 falling

Regions and income groups

Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.

About this data

Indicator
Proportion of population facing impoverishing out-of-pocket health expenditure, based on the societal poverty line (%)
Unit
%
Source
Universal Health Coverage Dataset, World Health Organization (WHO)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
89 places, 1,148 data points, 1985–2024
Last refreshed

Proportion of population spending more than 100% of household discretionary budget on out-of-pocket health expenditure (%). This includes people living in poverty that are further impoverished due to out-of-pocket health expenditure as well as people who are pushed into poverty by out-of-pocket health expenditure. The discretionary budget is defined as the total household budget, measured by consumption expenditure or income, minus the societal poverty line (SPL ). Using 2017 purchasing power parities (PPPs), the SPL corresponds to whichever is greater: $2.15 (the international poverty line) or $1.15 + 50% of median household consumption expenditure or income, excluding out-of-pocket household expenditure on health. Out-of-pocket health expenditure is defined as any spending incurred by a household when any member uses a health good or service to receive any type of care (preventive, curative, rehabilitative, long-term or palliative care); provided by any type of provider; for any type of disease, illness or health condition; in any type of setting (outpatient, inpatient, at home).