Proportion of population pushed into poverty (based on the societal poverty line) due to out-of-pocket health expenditure (%) by country

Proportion of population living in households with positive discretionary budgets that spend all their discretionary budget on out-of-pocket health expenditure. The household discretionary budget is defined as the total household budget, measured by consumption expenditure or income, minus the societal poverty...

Countries reporting
69
Highest
8.9%
Tunisia
Lowest
0.1%
Zambia
Median
1.6%
Years covered
39
1985–2023
Data points
1,069

What the numbers show

Proportion of population pushed into poverty (based on the societal poverty line) due to out-of-pocket health expenditure (%) is currently reported for 69 countries. The highest value is 8.9% in Tunisia; the lowest is 0.1% in Zambia.

The median across all reporting countries is 1.6%, and the mean is 2.1%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 127.

Over the past decade 38 countries rose and 31 fell. The largest increase was in Mongolia (up 475.0%), and the largest decrease in Zambia (down 88.5%).

Proportion of population pushed into poverty (based on the societal po: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Tunisia 8.9% 2021 up 228.0% volatile
2 Egypt 6.1% 2019 up 127.9% rising
3 Nicaragua 6.0% 2014 up 96.7% volatile
4 India 5.6% 2011 up 24.2% rising
5 Armenia 4.6% 2020 up 18.4% rising
6 Benin 4.4% 2021 up 105.6% rising
7 Georgia 4.3% 2011 up 67.6% rising
8 Tajikistan 3.8% 2018 up 110.4% rising
9 Peru 3.7% 2022 up 103.3% rising
10 Cameroon 3.5% 2022 up 90.3% falling
11 Burkina Faso 3.2% 2021 up 218.6% rising
12 Mongolia 3.2% 2023 up 475.0% volatile
13 Nigeria 3.2% 2022 down 26.7% falling
14 Cambodia 3.2% 2023 up 1.6% falling
15 Latvia 3.1% 2019 up 84.0% rising
16 Pakistan 3.0% 2018 down 0.7% falling
17 Togo 3.0% 2021 up 82.2% rising
18 Uganda 2.7% 2019 down 22.0% rising
19 Belarus 2.6% 2020 up 173.4% flat
20 Nepal 2.5% 2022 down 10.7% falling
21 Cote d'Ivoire 2.4% 2021 down 25.7% falling
22 Colombia 2.3% 2021 up 24.0% falling
23 Senegal 2.2% 2021 up 71.3% rising
24 Romania 2.1% 2016 up 26.9% rising
25 Niger 2.1% 2021 down 31.5% rising
26 Bulgaria 2.0% 2023 up 29.0% rising
27 Greece 2.0% 2023 up 7.1% falling
28 Hungary 1.9% 2007 up 95.0% rising
29 Lithuania 1.9% 2021 down 5.9% rising
29 Mali 1.9% 2022 up 56.6% rising
31 Iran 1.9% 2022 up 1.1% falling
32 Israel 1.8% 2021 up 16.7% falling
33 Chile 1.7% 2021 up 48.7% rising
34 Serbia 1.6% 2022 up 114.3% rising
35 Vietnam 1.6% 2020 down 45.2% falling
36 Poland 1.6% 2019 down 23.0% falling
37 Albania 1.6% 2017 down 30.7% falling
38 Portugal 1.5% 2022 down 38.0% rising
39 Russia 1.5% 2014 up 114.7% rising
40 Sri Lanka 1.4% 2016 down 7.8% falling
41 North Macedonia 1.4% 2020 up 35.6% rising
42 Philippines 1.4% 2015 up 57.3% rising
43 Ukraine 1.3% 2019 down 2.9% falling
44 Spain 1.3% 2023 up 52.4% rising
45 Moldova 1.3% 2023 down 52.3% falling
46 Montenegro 1.1% 2015 down 41.6% rising
47 Switzerland 1.1% 2017 down 24.5% falling
48 Kazakhstan 1.1% 2018 down 1.9% rising
49 Mexico 1.0% 2022 up 103.9% falling
50 Estonia 1.0% 2011 down 17.2% rising
51 Croatia 0.9% 2010 up 74.1% rising
52 Luxembourg 0.9% 2023 down 14.0% rising
53 Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.9% 2022 down 32.1% falling
54 Ethiopia 0.9% 2021 up 45.2% rising
55 Malawi 0.9% 2019 up 47.5% rising
56 Jamaica 0.9% 2021 down 6.5% falling
57 Slovakia 0.8% 2022 down 5.6% flat
58 Kyrgyzstan 0.8% 2022 up 75.6% falling
59 Bolivia 0.8% 2021 down 38.2% falling
60 El Salvador 0.7% 2019 up 131.2% rising
61 Indonesia 0.7% 2023 down 32.0% falling
62 Turkey 0.6% 2016 down 36.6% falling
63 United States 0.6% 2023 down 11.3% falling
64 Slovenia 0.5% 2022 up 17.5% falling
65 Ghana 0.4% 2016 down 55.8% volatile
66 South Africa 0.3% 2014 down 52.3% falling
67 Bhutan 0.3% 2022 down 53.2% falling
68 United Kingdom 0.3% 2021 down 17.6% rising
69 Zambia 0.1% 2015 down 88.5% volatile

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 pushed into poverty (based on the societal poverty line) due to out-of-pocket health expenditure (%)
Unit
%
Source
Universal Health Coverage Dataset, World Health Organization (WHO)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
82 places, 1,069 data points, 1985–2023
Last refreshed

Proportion of population living in households with positive discretionary budgets that spend all their discretionary budget on out-of-pocket health expenditure. The household 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).