France

Health systems in transition France 61
3.1 Health expenditure
In 2013, total expenditure on health (dépenses totales de santé) in France was
estimated at €235 billion, or 10.9% of GDP 1 (Table 3.1), being higher than
the average for EU countries (Figs 1.1–1.3). Health care expenditure in France
grew more rapidly than national wealth for many years, with the exception
of the period 1997–2000. Total expenditure on health as share of GDP has
risen slightly faster than in neighbouring countries (with the exception of the
United Kingdom), from 10.4% in 1995 to 11.6% in 2013 (Fig. 3.2).
Table 3.1
Trends in health expenditure in France, 1995–2013, selected years
1995 2000 2005 2010 2013
Current expenditure on health, per capita (US$ PPP) 2 040 2 485 3 101 3 881 4 124
THE (US$ PPP) 2 099 2 546 3 229 4 029 4 361
Current expenditure on health (% of GDP) 9.8 10.0 10.2 10.8 10.9
THE (% of GDP) 10.4 9.8 10.6 11.2 11.6
Average annual real growth rate in THE (%) a na 3.1 1.9 1.3 na
Average annual growth rate in GDP 2.1 4.0 1.6 2.0 0.7
Public expenditure on health (% THE) 79.1 79.0 78.7 78.0 78.7
Private expenditure on health (% THE) 20.9 21.0 21.3 22.0 21.3
Government health spending, including social security
(% of total government spending in US$ PPP)
13.1 14.0 14.5 14.5 14.6 b
Government health spending (% GDP) 7.8 8.0 8.0 8.4 8.5
OOP payments (% private expenditure on health) na na 34.6 35.2 31.6
OOP payments (% current expenditure on health) na na 7.4 7.7 6.7
VHI (% current expenditure on health) na na 13.2 13.5 13.9
VHI (% of private expenditure on health) na na 62.1 61.7 65.4
Source: OECD, 2014.
Notes: a Calculated as the mean of the annual growth rates in national currency units at PPP prices; b 2012 data; na: Not available;
PPP: Purchasing power parity; THE: Total expenditure on health.
1
Data on health care expenditure reported in this section are from the OECD (OECD, 2014). Data for international
comparisons is from the WHO Health for All database (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2014). Caution must be
taken in comparing health expenditures among countries as certain OECD countries (Belgium, Luxembourg and
Switzerland) do not account for gross fixed capital formation.