There have been numerous attempts to compare and rank various national health systems. These are three of the best and most comprehensive.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Health Index

Performance on the health-related SDG index and 40 individual health-related indicators, by location, in 2017: 21

Source: GBD 2017 SDG Collaborators. “Measuring progress from 1990 to 2017 and projecting attainment to 2030 of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals for 195 countries and territories: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017.” Lancet (London, England) vol. 392,10159 (2018): 2091-2138. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32281-5.

Healthcare Access and Quality (HAQ) Index

Performance on the HAQ Index and 32 individual causes, by country or territory, in 2016: 29

Source: GBD 2016 Healthcare Access and Quality Collaborators. “Measuring performance on the Healthcare Access and Quality Index for 195 countries and territories and selected subnational locations: a systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016.” Lancet (London, England) vol. 391,10136 (2018): 2236-2271. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(18)30994-2.

WHO World Health Report 2000

Health system attainment and performance in all Member States, ranked by eight measures, estimates for 1997
— Overall Health System Performance: 37
— Performance on Health Level: 72

Source: World Health Organization. The World Health Report 2000: Health Systems : Improving Performance. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2000.

Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems in the US and sixteen other nations.

Page last updated August 24, 2022 by Doug McVay, Editor.