Czech Republic Health System Overview
Health System Rankings
Health System Outcomes
Health System Coverage
Costs for Consumers
Health System Expenditures
Health System Financing
Czech Republic COVID-19 Policy
Health System Personnel
Health System Physical Resources and Utilization
Long-Term Care
Health Information and Communications Technologies
Medical Training
Pharmaceuticals
Wasteful Spending
Political System
Economic System
Population Demographics
People With Disabilities
Aging
Social Determinants & Health Equity
Health System History
Health System Challenges
Population (2021): 10,703,446
Gross National Income, Atlas method (Current US$) (Billions) (2021): $257.63
GNI per capita, Atlas method (Current USD) (2021): $24,070
Income Share Held by Lowest 20% (2019): 10.1%
Gross Domestic Product (Current USD) (Billions) (2021): $282.34
Source: World Bank. Country Profile: Czechia. World Development Indicators. Last accessed Nov. 10, 2022.
Gross Domestic Product Per Capita (Current US$) (2010-2019): $23,490
Share of Household Income (2010-2019):
Bottom 40%: 24.9%; Top 20%: 35.5%; Bottom 20%: 10.2%
Gini Coefficient (2010-2019): 31.0
Source: United Nations Children’s Fund, The State of the World’s Children 2021: On My Mind – Promoting, protecting and caring for children’s mental health, UNICEF, New York, October 2021.
“The Czech Republic has one of the most developed industrialized economies among EU13 Member States. Its strong industrial tradition dates back to the 19th century, when Bohemia and Moravia were the economic heartland of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After four decades of communist rule following the Second World War, the Velvet Revolution in 1989 offered a chance for political and economic reform. Government priorities included strict fiscal policies, market liberalization, and the creation of an attractive climate for foreign investment. After an initial economic decline, the gross domestic product (GDP) began to increase again as of 1993. This initial success, however, was followed by a financial crisis in 1997, which emphasized the necessity of further economic reforms, such as completing industrial restructuring, increasing the transparency of capital markets and fully privatizing the banking sector. In 1999 the economy started to grow again, fuelled by strong domestic and foreign demand, as well as by increased foreign direct investment as enabled by the reformed banking sector. The period of mostly export-oriented growth lasted until 2008, with the unfolding international financial crisis. As its main trading partners witnessed a substantial decline in economic activity, the Czech Republic was hit hard by the drop in foreign import demand. Czech GDP fell by 4.5% in 2009. The following years brought about some economic recovery, with GDP growth of 2.3% in 2010 and 2.0% in 2011. However, fiscal retrenchment (among other factors such as dropping external demands) reversed this recovery in 2012, as evidenced by a GDP base decreasing by –0.8%. According to the Czech Ministry of Finance, GDP further declined by –0.7% in 2013. In 2014 the Czech economy recovered again with GDP growth of 2.4% and is expected to further increase by 2.7% in 2015 (Ministry of Finance, 2014a; 2015).”
Source: Alexa J, Rečka L, Votápková J, van Ginneken E, Spranger A, Wittenbecher F. Czech Republic: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2015; 17(1):1–165.
“The Czech Republic belongs to the relatively stable and prosperous group of countries among the post-communist states of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). This is reflected in a 14.6% at-risk-of-poverty rate (2013), which is among the lowest in Europe, as well as in steady economic growth (3.2% on average per year between 1998 and 2011), combined with increasing purchasing power (Table 1.2). In 1995 GDP per capita reached 10,800 purchasing power standards (PPS). This number increased steadily until 2011, reaching 20,580 PPS, but in 2012 PPS declined for the first time to 18,690. As a share of GDP per capita, this was approximately 79.1% of that in the EU28 countries and 72.4% of that in the EU15. Unemployment fell from 8.8% in 2000 to a historical low of 4.4% in 2008. With the unfolding financial crisis and declining economic activity, Czech unemployment rates increased again and reached 7% in 2013 (Eurostat, 2014). The health sector has been affected indirectly by these recent economic developments. For example, government-funded health insurance contributions for the economically inactive (such as the increasing number of unemployed) have not been increased; VAT on pharmaceuticals and medical aids has been raised as a component of fiscal consolidation; and formal co-payments have been increased (see Chapter 3 Financing).”
Source: Alexa J, Rečka L, Votápková J, van Ginneken E, Spranger A, Wittenbecher F. Czech Republic: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2015; 17(1):1–165.
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Page last updated Nov. 10, 2022 by Doug McVay, Editor.
