Health expenditure in China as a proportion of GDP 2013-2023

In 2023, health expenditure in China amounted to about 7.19 percent of the GDP, up from 7.08 percent in the previous year. 

Rising healthcare expenditure

In the past four decades, China's overall healthcare spending has increased consistently. Growing government funding and private investments have led to an expansion of the health system, resulting in more healthcare facilities, more beds, and improved medical technologies. At present, more than a quarter of the nation's healthcare expenditures are out-of-pocket costs borne by patients, with the rest covered by government subsidies and medical insurance.

The improved medical insurance system

At the turn of this century, China introduced a range of statutory medical insurance programs, including the Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance, the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme, and the Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance. The programs gradually reduced the high out-of-pocket medical bills borne by Chinese patients, while providing a more stable source of income for the healthcare providers. Since around 2017, the basic medical insurance system was simplified, resulting in two insurance schemes covering 95 percent of the population.