OECD Health Statistics 2014
How does India compare?
Total health spending accounted for only 4.0% of GDP in India in 2012, less than half the OECD
average of 9.3%. Health spending as a share of GDP among OECD countries is highest in the United
States, which spent 16.9% of its GDP on health in 2012.
Health expenditure as a share of GDP, India and OECD countries, 2012 or latest year
% GDP
Public
Private
20
18
16.9
16
14
12
11.8 11.6
11.4 11.3
11.1 11.0 10.9 10.9
10.3
10.0
10
9.6 9.5 9.4 9.4
9.3 9.3 9.3 9.3 9.2 9.1 9.1 9.0
8.9
8.1 8.0
8
7.6 7.5
7.3 7.3 7.1
6.8
6.2
6
5.9
5.4
4.0
4
2
0
Source: OECD Health Statistics 2014; WHO Global Health Expenditure Database
1. Total expenditure excluding capital expenditure.
Health spending tends to rise with incomes, and generally countries with higher GDP per capita also
tend to spend more on health. It is not surprising, therefore, that India ranks well below the OECD
average in terms of health expenditure per capita, with spending of only USD 157 in 2012 (calculated
based on purchasing power parity), compared with an OECD average of USD 3484.
Health expenditure per capita, India and OECD countries, 2012 or latest year
US$ PPP per capita
9000
Public
Private
8745
8000
7000
6140 6080
6000
5099
5000
4000
4896 4811
4698 4602 4578
4419
4288
4106 3997
3890
3649 3559 3536
3484 3289
3000
3209 3172
2998
2667
2457 2409
2304 2291
2105 2077
1803
2000
1577 1540
1447
1048 984
1000
157
0
Source: OECD Health Statistics 2014; WHO Global Health Expenditure Database
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The public sector is the main source of health funding in nearly all OECD countries. However, in
India, only 33% of health spending was funded by public sources in 2012, a much lower share than
the average of 72% in OECD countries. Health accounted for only 4.8% of total government spending
in 2012, significantly lower than the 14.4% across OECD countries. Out-of pocket costs accounted for
60% of health spending in India in 2012, higher than in any other OECD country.
Health care resources and activities
In 2012, India had only 0.7 physicians per 1000 population, well below the OECD average of 3.2. And
even then, the number of doctors in India is probably over-estimated, as it is based on medical
registers which are not updated regularly to account for migration, retirement or death, nor do they
take into account doctors registered in multiple states.
There was 1.1 nurse per 1000 population in India in 2012, also much lower than the average of 8.8 in
OECD countries.
About 75% of children in India were vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP) and
measles in 2012, less than the coverage in most OECD countries which is close to 100%.
Health status and risk factors
Most countries have enjoyed large gains in life expectancy over the past decades, thanks to
improvements in living conditions, public health interventions and progress in medical care. Life
expectancy at birth in India has increased by almost 25 years since 1960 to reach 66.3 years in 2012.
Nonetheless, it still remains 14 years lower than the OECD average (80.2 years).
The infant mortality rate in India has been cut in half over the past two decades, coming down from
88.2 deaths per 1000 live births in 1990 to 43.8 deaths in 2012. Nonetheless, it remains more than
ten times higher than the OECD average (4.0 deaths per 1000 births).
The percentage of low birth weight infants in India is also much higher than in OECD countries:
27.6% of newborns in India in 2011 were defined as having a low birth weight (weighing less than 2
500 grams) compared with 6.8% on average in OECD countries. While genetic factors play a role,
the proportion of low birth weight infants is generally higher in lower-income families in India as is the
case also in other countries.
Tobacco smoking is a major risk factor for a number of causes of death, including cardiovascular
diseases and a range of cancers. Only 10.7% adults smoked daily in India in 2010, two times less
than the OECD average (21.0%). However, there remains an important gender gap in smoking rates
in India, with many more Indian men (18.3%) than women (2.4%) smoking daily.
More information on OECD Health Statistics 2014 is available at www.oecd.org/health/healthdata.
For more information on OECD's work on India, please visit www.oecd.org/india.
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