Total Health Spending, USD PPP Per Capita (2020): $3,805.14
(Note: “Health spending measures the final consumption of health care goods and services (i.e. current health expenditure) including personal health care (curative care, rehabilitative care, long-term care, ancillary services and medical goods) and collective services (prevention and public health services as well as health administration), but excluding spending on investments. Health care is financed through a mix of financing arrangements including government spending and compulsory health insurance (“Government/compulsory”) as well as voluntary health insurance and private funds such as households’ out-of-pocket payments, NGOs and private corporations (“Voluntary”). This indicator is presented as a total and by type of financing (“Government/compulsory”, “Voluntary”, “Out-of-pocket”) and is measured as a share of GDP, as a share of total health spending and in USD per capita (using economy-wide PPPs).”
Source: OECD (2023), Health spending (indicator). doi: 10.1787/8643de7e-en (Accessed on 24 May 2023).
Current Health Expenditure As Percentage Of Gross Domestic Product, 2020: 9.24%
Source: Global Health Observatory. Current health expenditure (CHE) as percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) (%). Geneva: World Health Organization. Last accessed May 14, 2023.
Current Health Expenditure Per Capita in USD, 2020: $2,120
Source: Global Health Observatory. Current health expenditure (CHE) per capita in US$. Geneva: World Health Organization. Last accessed May 13, 2023.
Out-Of-Pocket Expenditure As Percentage Of Current Health Expenditure, 2020: 11.53%
Source: Global Health Observatory. Out-of-pocket expenditure as percentage of current health expenditure (CHE) (%). Geneva: World Health Organization. Last accessed May 13, 2023.
Out-Of-Pocket Expenditure Per Capita in USD, 2020: $244.3
Source: Global Health Observatory. Out-of-pocket expenditure (OOP) per capita in US$. Geneva: World Health Organization. Last accessed May 13, 2023.
Annual household out-of-pocket payment in current USD per capita, 2020: $244
Source: Global Health Expenditure Database. Health expenditure series. Geneva: World Health Organization. Last accessed May 13, 2023.
Out-of-Pocket Spending as Share of Final Household Consumption, 2019 (%): 2.4%
Source: OECD (2021), Health at a Glance 2021: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/ae3016b9-en.
Remuneration of Doctors, Ratio to Average Wage (2019)
General Practitioners: NA
Specialists: 2.4
Source: OECD (2021), Health at a Glance 2021: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/ae3016b9-en.
Remuneration of Hospital Nurses, Ratio to Average Wage (2019): 1.3
Remuneration of Hospital Nurses, USD PPP (2019): $36,600
Source: OECD (2021), Health at a Glance 2021: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/ae3016b9-en.
“In 2019, Czechia spent EUR 2,362 per capita (adjusted for differences in purchasing power) on health – substantially lower than the EU weighted average. As a share of GDP, health spending reached 7.8%, which is also below the EU average of 9.9% (Figure 7). However, the share of public financing of health has historically been high in Czechia: at 82% in 2019, it was above the EU average of 79.7%. The main source of health expenditure is SHI [Social Health Insurance] contributions (consisting of wage-based contributions for employees from employers, income-related contributions from self-employed people and state contributions for specific groups of economically inactive people), supplemented by funding from state and territorial budgets, EU funds and private expenditure. Out-of-pocket expenditure consists of cost-sharing, such as co-payments for prescribed pharmaceuticals. Since health insurance is compulsory, all the population is covered.”
Source: OECD/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (2021), Czechia: Country Health Profile 2021, State of Health in the EU, OECD Publishing, Paris/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Brussels.
“Current health expenditure (CHE) in Czechia in 2019 amounted to EUR 18.5 billion (ČSÚ, 2022b). Table 3.1 presents the most recent health expenditure data from WHO and according to these data, CHE as a share of GDP in Czechia in 2019 was 7.8% (up from 5.7% in 2000; see Fig.3.1) and ranked below the EU average of 9.9%. As seen in Fig. 3.2, the increase between 2007 and 2009 is mainly attributed to the sharp decline in GDP during the economic crisis and the fact that HIFs had accumulated enough reserves before to keep spending levels stable or even increase them. After 2009, most countries followed a slight downward trend. During 2010–2011, Czech HIFs came under pressure to decrease spending levels, while health expenditure increases during 2012–2013 were severely restricted by the Reimbursement Directive (see Section 3.3.4). From 2011 to 2015, the funds disbursed by HIFs remained relatively constant and expenditure decreased year-on-year between 2013 and 2016, accounting for inflation (ČSÚ, 2021d).Preliminary data from the OECD for 2020 show that health expenditure data jumped due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with CHE rising to 9.2% of Czechia’s GDP because of policy responses (OECD, 2022a). These additional expenditures were partially financed by a substantial rise in monthly state budget transfers for persons directly insured by the state and continued to rise in 2021 and 2022 (see Section 3.3.2). This increase in CHE’s share of overall GDP is expected to continue after the pandemic.”
Source: Bryndová L, Šlegerová L, Votápková J, Hrobonˇ P, Shuftan N, Spranger A. Czechia: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2023; 25(1): i–183.
“Czechia’s per capita health spending measured in US$ PPP stood at US$ 3477 in 2019 (see Fig.3.3). Lower expenditures, especially when compared with other countries in the WHO European Region, have led to frequent criticism by various stakeholders, including physicians and other health workers, particularly within the context of limiting their pay (see Section 3.7.2).
“The share of CHE from public sources in Czechia, on the other hand, ranked among the highest in the WHO European Region at 81.5% in 2019 (see Fig.3.4) and enables the broad benefits package and virtually universal coverage in Czechia (see Section 3.3.1). With the large expenditure increases from HIFs due to the pandemic, ČSÚ estimates that the share of CHE coming from public sources rose by a near similar three points (as with the drop in private sources) in 2020 (ČSÚ, 2022b).”
Source: Bryndová L, Šlegerová L, Votápková J, Hrobonˇ P, Shuftan N, Spranger A. Czechia: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2023; 25(1): i–183.
“The share of OOP payments of CHE in Czechia is relatively stable and, according to WHO data, hovered around 14% from 2015 to 2019, though ČSÚ data show this share dropping to 11.5% in 2020. OOP payments have accounted for just over 2% of total household expenditure over the same time, and the ČSÚ data furthermore show that OOP payments per capita dropped slightly from CZK5 803 in 2019 to CZK5 666 in 2020 (ČSÚ, 2022b).OOP payments consist of direct payments for over-the-counter pharmaceuticals (26% of OOP payments in 2020); co-payments on prescription pharmaceuticals (20%); above-standard medical procedures and services in both inpatient and outpatient settings (22%, including for spa stays and cosmetic procedures); direct payments and surcharges for dental care (18%); and co-payments on medical aids and other devices (11%) (ČSÚ, 2022b).
“Outpatient and inpatient health services are provided free of charge at the point of use, except for some prescription pharmaceuticals, medical aids and the user fee for accessing outpatient out-of-hours services (CZK90; this fee is not collected if the visit results in a hospital stay). In 2008, more flat user fees were introduced, such as for physician consultations (CZK30), stay per hospital day (CZK60, increased to CZK100 in 2011) and per collected prescription pharmaceutical (CZK30), but were gradually dismantled and fully abolished due to popular and political opposition as of January 2015. No co-payment for “above-standard” medical treatment is possible; should a patient desire an alternative procedure or MDA, they would pay for the whole medical treatment.”
Source: Bryndová L, Šlegerová L, Votápková J, Hrobonˇ P, Shuftan N, Spranger A. Czechia: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2023; 25(1): i–183.
Czechia Health System Overview
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Health System Outcomes
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Health System Expenditures
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Czechia’s COVID-19 Policy
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Page last updated August 4, 2023 by Doug McVay, Editor.
