How do healthcare prices and utilization in the United States compare to those in peer nations?
By Delaney Tevis, Matt McGough, Juliette Cubanski, Matthew Rae Twitter, and Cynthia Cox KFF
September 4, 2025
The United States spends more on healthcare than any other large, wealthy country. Total health spending is largely a product of two factors: 1) prices of healthcare services and 2) the volume of services and medications used. This chart collection compares indicators of health care utilization and prices in the United States and 11 similarly wealthy countries to investigate whether higher prices or higher utilization of healthcare services drives the high healthcare expenditures in the U.S. relative to peer nations.
International comparisons of healthcare systems are complex. Differences in patient populations, healthcare financing systems, and public health infrastructure can make direct comparisons difficult. Within these limitations, care was taken to identify data sources that provide as robust comparisons as possible.
According to the most updated internationally comparable data available, the U.S. has higher prices—particularly among private health plans—for many healthcare services. Meanwhile, utilization of many services, including doctor’s visits, number and length of hospital stays, and a variety of inpatient surgeries, is lower than in many comparable countries. As a result, the evidence continues to support the finding that higher prices – as opposed to higher utilization – explain the United States’ high health spending relative to other high-income countries. Data used to identify Medicare costs in the United States exclude physician fees, which vary widely by service and facility type, accounting for roughly 5-10% of the cost for inpatient hospital services, a 10–20% share for outpatient imaging and diagnostic services, and up to 50% for certain hospital outpatient department visits. As a result, international price comparisons may understate the actual gap between U.S. and peer country prices.
While additional factors like administrative overhead and intensity of care delivered may also impact differences in total health expenditures between countries, the fundamental pattern of the U.S. having higher prices for healthcare services and using less care on average has persisted for many years.
The U.S. spends nearly twice as much on healthcare per person as the average of peer nations
In 2023, the U.S. spent $13,432 per person on healthcare, which is 1.8 times the average amount spent in comparable countries ($7,393 per person). Spending on healthcare accounted for 16.7% of the U.S.’s GDP in 2023, compared to an average of 11.0% in comparable countries. The next highest-spending country (Switzerland) devoted 12.0% of its GDP to healthcare. Historical data shows that the U.S. has long spent a higher share of its GDP on healthcare than comparable countries, with the gap widening over the last five decades.
Sooooo we must have the best quality of healthcare, right?
The top 20 countries with the best healthcare are:
- Taiwan (78.72)
- South Korea (77.7)
- Australia (74.11)
- Canada (71.32)
- Sweden (70.73)
- Ireland (67.99)
- Netherlands (65.38)
- Germany (64.66)
- Norway (64.63)
- Israel (61.73)
- Belgium (60.16)
- Switzerland (59.6)
- Japan (59.52)
- Singapore (57.96)
- United States (56.71)
- Austria (54.86)
- United Arab Emirates (52.3)
- Czech Republic (52.25)
- Finland (52.1)
- Portugal (51.99)
