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South Africa — Health spending
Health Spending (% of GDP) for South Africa, 2000–2023.
Latest value · 2023
8.91%
Health Spending (% of GDP) · % of GDP · +21.4% since 2000
Health spending for South Africa was 8.91% in 2023, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 24 years, from 2000 to 2023. The highest recorded value was 9.02% in 2020. The lowest was 6.68% in 2002 (about 1.3× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to 0.85% per year.
South Africa ranks 46 of 189 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 24%. The median for Sub-Saharan Africa is 4.48%, so South Africa sits above it. It peaked in 2020 and has fallen 1% since. Over the last decade (2013–2023) the figure moved up 10%.
Key figures
Latest (2023)
8.91%
First (2000)
7.34%
Change
+21.4%
Highest
9.02%
in 2020
Lowest
6.68%
in 2002
Average
7.75%
Annual growth (CAGR)
0.85%
Years of data
24
Recent years
| Year | % of GDP |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 8.91% |
| 2022 | 8.75% |
| 2021 | 8.66% |
| 2020 | 9.02% |
| 2019 | 8.25% |
| 2018 | 8.08% |
| 2017 | 7.98% |
| 2016 | 8.08% |
| 2015 | 8.05% |
| 2014 | 7.87% |
| 2013 | 8.1% |
| 2012 | 8% |
Reading this correctly. Current health expenditure as a share of GDP. Covers both public and private spending on health goods and services. Figures are in % of GDP. Comparing this series with a different measure of the same concept (for example a nominal figure against a purchasing-power-parity figure) will give misleading results.
Related data
Source. World Bank Open Data, indicator
SH.XPD.CHEX.GD.ZS — Health Spending (% of GDP). Data licensed under CC BY 4.0. Values are reproduced as published; this page computes the summary statistics (change, CAGR, extremes) from the underlying annual series. View the original dataset on data.worldbank.org.