Health expenditure Australia 2013–14

This report includes estimates of how much was spent on health between 2003–04 and 2013–14. This information contributes to understanding the performance and efficiency of Australia’s health system and how changes arise over time. Summary Continued slow growth Health expenditure growth in 2013–14 was relatively slow according to most measures. Total expenditure on health was estimated at $154.6 billion in 2013–14, up by 3.1% on 2012–13 in real terms (after adjusting for inflation). This growth was higher than the 1.1% growth experienced in 2012–13 but 1.9 percentage points lower than the average annual growth over the past decade (5.0%). Growth was also relatively slow in expenditure per person. An estimated $6,639 was spent per person on health in 2013–14, which was $94 more in real terms than in the previous year. This growth of 1.4% was less than half the average annual growth over the decade (3.3%). Despite this relatively slow growth in health spending, the proportion of the economy that health represented increased from 9.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2012–13 to 9.8% in 2013–14. This was a result of relatively low growth in GDP. When compared to taxation revenue, government health spending represented the same proportion of taxation revenue (24.7%) as the previous year