Via the Canadian Institute for Health Information: National Health Expenditure Trends. Excerpt
November 4, 2021 — National Health Expenditure Trends, 2021 — the 25th edition of the annual publication on health expenditure trends — provides detailed information on health spending in Canada using the National Health Expenditure Database (NHEX).
This year’s release presents finalized 2019 actual health expenditures and preliminary estimates for 2020 and 2021. The 2020 and 2021 projections include government-budgeted funding for health-related activities as a time-limited emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic. National Health Expenditure Trends forecasts are based on main estimates and budgets for the public sector.
Note: Preliminary estimates are subject to revision when actual data becomes available in subsequent years. This year’s spending estimates may experience larger revisions than usual due to uncertainty around COVID-19 pandemic spending.
Key findings
• Total health spending in Canada is expected to reach a new level in 2021, at more than $308 billion, or $8,019 per Canadian. It is anticipated that health expenditure will represent 12.7% of Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021, following a high of 13.7% in 2020.
• Total health expenditure in Canada rose by 12.8% in 2020 due to pandemic response funding. Prior to the pandemic, from 2015 to 2019, growth in health spending averaged 4% per year.
• Hospitals (25%), Drugs (14%) and Physicians (13%) are expected to continue to account for the largest shares of health dollars (more than 50% of total health spending) in 2021. A new spending category — COVID-19 Response Funding — makes up 7% of total health spending, which includes federal direct and provincial/territorial government–sector spending.
