Health Measuring Ireland's Progress 2019 - Central Statistics Office

Ireland: Current public expenditure on health care

Table 5.1 Ireland: Current public expenditure on health care, 2008-2018¹
Year	Current Public Expenditure
Year	Total (€m)	%GNI	%GNI*	Per capita at constant 2018 prices (€)
2008	13,557	8.3	10.7	3,002
2009	13,748	9.7	12.9	3,037
2010	13,420	9.6	13.3	3,072
2011	13,232	9.5	17.8	2,991
2012	13,487	9.6	17.7	2,991
2013	13,173	8.7	16.4	2,917
2014	13,387	8.1	15.1	2,935
2015	13,855	6.9	13.8	3,014
2016	14,592	6.6	12.8	3,129
2017	15,474	6.5	12.2	3,212
2018	16,590	6.4	11.4	3,371
Source: CSO, System of Health Accounts
¹Break in series in 2013 (see Appendix 1).

Open in Excel: Measuring Ireland's Progress, 2019 Table 5.1 (XLS 9KB)

Total health care expenditure in Ireland was €22.5bn in 2018. The current public expenditure on health care in 2018 was €16.6bn, up €1.1bn on the previous year.
As a percentage of Gross National Income (GNI), public health spending increased from 8.3% in 2008 to 9.7% in 2009, before decreasing over the next nine years to 6.4% in 2018.
As a proportion of Modified GNI (GNI*), public expenditure on health care represented 11.4% in 2018, a 0.8 percentage point decrease on the previous year.
Between 2008 and 2018, current public expenditure on health care per person, (at constant 2018 prices), increased by 12.3%, from €3,002 to €3,371.

Year	Expenditure per capita at constant 2018 prices
2008	3002
2009	3037
2010	3072
2011	2991
2012	2991
2013	2917
2014	2935
2015	3014
2016	3129
2017	3212
2018	3371

By country: Total expenditure on health as a percentage of GDP

Table 5.2 By country: Total expenditure on health care as a percentage of GDP, 2014-2018^1,2
Country	% of GDP					PPS € per capita
Country	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2018
Germany	11.0	11.2	11.2	11.4	11.5	4,472.6
Ireland % GNI*	12.7	11.8	11.5	11.6	11.4	3,529.8
France	11.6	11.5	11.5	11.4	11.3	3,703.9
Sweden	11.0	10.8	10.8	10.8	10.9	3,904.9
Austria	10.4	10.4	10.4	10.4	10.3	3,980.1
Belgium	10.4	10.4	10.3	10.4	10.3	3,667.3
Denmark	10.2	10.2	10.1	10.1	10.1	3,804.8
Netherlands	10.6	10.3	10.3	10.1	10.0	3,906.7
Portugal	9.0	9.0	9.4	9.3	9.5	2,225.8
Spain	9.1	9.1	9.0	8.9	9.0	2,464.8
Italy	8.9	8.9	8.7	8.7	8.7	2,504.4
Slovenia	8.5	8.5	8.5	8.2	8.3	2,186.3
Czech Republic	7.7	7.2	7.2	7.2	7.7	2,278.6
Greece	7.9	8.0	8.2	8.0	7.7	1,628.4
Bulgaria	7.7	7.4	7.5	7.5	7.4	1,268.5
Ireland % GDP	9.7	7.3	7.4	7.2	6.9	3,529.8
Croatia	6.7	6.8	6.8	6.8	6.8	1,347.8
Cyprus	7.0	6.9	6.8	6.7	6.8	1,843.8
Estonia	6.1	6.4	6.5	6.6	6.7	1,701.8
Hungary	7.1	7.0	7.1	6.8	6.7	1,544.9
Slovakia	6.9	6.8	7.0	6.8	6.7	1,539.4
Lithuania	6.2	6.5	6.6	6.5	6.6	1,714.0
Poland	6.3	6.3	6.5	6.6	6.3	1,519.0
Latvia	5.5	5.7	6.2	6.0	6.2	1,334.1
Romania	5.0	4.9	5.0	5.2	5.6	1,211.7
Luxembourg	5.4	5.3	5.2	5.3	5.3	3,748.6
Finland	9.5	9.7	9.4	9.2	:	:
Malta	9.4	9.2	9.1	9.3	:	:

United Kingdom	10.0	9.9	9.9	9.8	10.0	3,083

EFTA Countries:
Switzerland	11.0	11.4	11.7	11.9	11.9	5,232
Norway	9.3	10.1	10.6	10.3	10.1	4,515
Iceland	8.3	8.1	8.2	8.3	8.5	3,176
Liechtenstein	5.6	5.8	5.9	5.6	5.5	:
Source: Eurostat System of Health Accounts, CSO NIEAR
¹Data unavailable for Finland, Malta, and the EU candidate countries.
²Sorted by 2018, descending.

Open in Excel: Measuring Ireland's Progress, 2019 Table 5.2 (XLS 12KB)

In 2018, the total health care spending as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 6.9%. This put Ireland at fifteenth in the EU27 for health spending (of the countries for which data were available).
As a percentage of Modified Gross National Income (GNI*), total expenditure on health care in Ireland was 11.4% in 2018.
Germany had the highest proportion of GDP allocated towards health care in the EU27 in 2018 at 11.5%, while Luxembourg had the lowest at 5.3%.

Country	Country
Germany	4472.62
Austria	3980.06
Netherlands	3906.71
Sweden	3904.86
Denmark	3804.82
Luxembourg	3748.61
France	3703.92
Belgium	3667.33
Ireland	3529.82
Italy	2504.41
Spain	2464.77
Czech Republic	2278.56
Portugal	2225.83
Slovenia	2186.27
Cyprus	1843.76
Lithuania	1714.01
Estonia	1701.82
Greece	1628.35
Hungary	1544.86
Slovakia	1539.37
Poland	1518.98
Croatia	1347.75
Latvia	1334.14
Bulgaria	1268.51
Romania	1211.69

Ireland: Life expectancy at birth and at age 65 by sex

Table 5.3 Ireland: Life expectancy at birth and at age 65 by sex, 1925-2017
Period	At birth		At age 65
Period	Male	Female	Male	Female
1925-1927	57.4	57.9	12.8	13.4
1935-1937	58.2	59.6	12.5	13.1
1940-1942	59.0	61.0	12.3	13.2
1945-1947	60.5	62.4	12.0	13.1
1950-1952	64.5	67.1	12.1	13.3
1960-1962	68.1	71.9	12.6	14.4
1965-1967	68.6	72.9	12.4	14.7
1970-1972	68.8	73.5	12.4	15.0
1978-1980	69.5	75.0	12.4	15.4
1980-1982	70.1	75.6	12.6	15.7
1985-1987	71.0	76.7	12.6	16.2
1990-1992	72.3	77.9	13.4	17.1
1995-1997	73.0	78.5	13.8	17.4
2001-2003	75.1	80.3	15.4	18.7
2005-2007	76.8	81.6	16.6	19.8
2010-2012	78.4	82.8	17.7	20.6
2015-2017	79.6	83.4	18.3	21.0
Source: CSO, Births, Deaths and Marriages

Open in Excel: Measuring Ireland's Progress, 2019 Table 5.3 (XLS 9KB)

Life expectancy at birth for males in 2016 was 79.6 years in Ireland, an increase of 22.2 years since 1926.
For females, life expectancy at birth in 2016 was 83.4 years, a rise of 25.5 years since 1926.
In 1926, life expectancy for females was higher than for males by 0.5 years. This gender gap widened to 5.7 years in 1986, but narrowed to 3.8 years by 2016.
A 65 year old man in 2016 could expect to live for another 18.3 years compared to 21.0 years for a 65 year old woman.

Year	Male	Female
1926	57.4	57.9
1936	58.2	59.6
1941	59	61
1946	60.5	62.4
1951	64.5	67.1
1961	68.1	71.9
1966	68.6	72.9
1971	68.8	73.5
1979	69.5	75
1981	70.1	75.6
1986	71	76.7
1991	72.3	77.9
1996	73	78.5
2002	75.1	80.3
2006	76.8	81.6
2011	78.4	82.8
2016	79.6	83.4

By country: Life expectancy at birth by sex

Table 5.4 By country: Life expectancy at birth by sex, 2018¹
Country	Total	Males	Females	Gender Differential
Spain	83.5	80.7	86.3	-5.6
Italy	83.4	81.2	85.6	-4.4
France	82.9	79.7	85.9	-6.2
Cyprus	82.9	80.9	84.8	-3.9
Sweden	82.6	80.9	84.3	-3.4
Malta	82.5	80.4	84.6	-4.2
Ireland	82.3	80.5	84.1	-3.6
Luxembourg	82.3	80.1	84.6	-4.5
Greece	81.9	79.3	84.4	-5.1
Netherlands	81.9	80.3	83.4	-3.1
Austria	81.8	79.4	84.1	-4.7
Finland	81.8	79.1	84.5	-5.4
Belgium	81.7	79.4	83.9	-4.5
Portugal	81.5	78.3	84.5	-6.2
Slovenia	81.5	78.5	84.4	-5.9
EU27	81.0	78.2	83.7	-5.5
Denmark	81.0	79.1	82.9	-3.8
Germany	81.0	78.6	83.3	-4.7
Czech Republic	79.1	76.2	82.0	-5.8
Estonia	78.5	74.0	82.7	-8.7
Croatia	78.2	74.9	81.5	-6.6
Poland	77.7	73.7	81.7	-8
Slovakia	77.4	73.9	80.8	-6.9
Hungary	76.2	72.7	79.6	-6.9
Lithuania	76.0	70.9	80.7	-9.8
Romania	75.3	71.7	79.2	-7.5
Latvia	75.1	70.1	79.7	-9.6
Bulgaria	75.0	71.5	78.6	-7.1

United Kingdom	81.3	79.5	83.1	-3.6

EFTA Countries:
Switzerland	83.8	81.9	85.7	-3.8
Liechtenstein	83.1	80.7	85.5	-4.8
Iceland	82.9	81.3	84.5	-3.2
Norway	82.8	81.1	84.5	-3.4

EU Candidate Countries:
Albania	78.9	77.4	80.5	-3.1
Turkey	78.9	76.2	81.6	-5.4
Montenegro	76.9	74.5	79.3	-4.8
Macedonia	76.7	74.6	78.8	-4.2
Serbia	75.9	73.5	78.4	-4.9
Source: Eurostat, Population and Social Conditions
¹Sorted by "Total Persons", descending.

Open in Excel: Measuring Ireland's Progress, 2019 Table 5.4 (XLS 12KB)

In 2018, Irish male life expectancy at birth was 80.5 years, and was 2.3 years higher than the EU27 average of 78.2 years.
Italy had the highest male life expectancy in the EU27, at 81.2 years, and Latvia had the lowest at 70.1 years.
In the same year, female life expectancy at birth in Ireland was 84.1 years, which was 0.4 years higher than the EU27 average.
Spain had the highest female life expectancy at 86.3 years, while Bulgaria had the lowest at 78.6 years.
Women had a higher life expectancy at birth than men in all EU27 countries. The lowest gender differential (male life expectancy at birth less that of females) was the Netherlands (3.1 years) and the country with the highest was Lithuania (9.8 years).

By country: Healthy life years at birth by sex

Table 5.5 By country: Healthy life years at birth by sex, 2018^1,2
Country	Total Persons	Males	Females	Gender Differential
Sweden	72.8	73.7	72.0	1.7
Malta	72.7	71.9	73.4	-1.5
Ireland	69.4	68.4	70.4	-2.0
Spain	68.0	68.0	68.0	0.0
Italy	66.8	66.8	66.9	-0.1
Bulgaria	65.8	64.0	67.6	-3.6
Germany	65.8	65.1	66.3	-1.2
Greece	65.4	65.0	65.9	-0.9
EU27	64.0	63.7	64.2	-0.5
France	63.9	63.4	64.5	-1.1
Belgium	63.4	63.2	63.7	-0.5
Czech Republic	62.7	62.2	63.4	-1.2
Poland	62.4	60.5	64.3	-3.8
Cyprus	62.2	62.0	62.4	-0.4
Hungary	61.1	60.4	61.8	-1.4
Denmark	60.9	62.5	59.1	3.4
Luxembourg	60.7	61.4	59.8	1.6
Romania	59.4	59.2	59.6	-0.4
Netherlands	59.2	61.1	57.2	3.9
Portugal	58.6	59.8	57.5	2.3
Lithuania	57.7	56.3	59.1	-2.8
Croatia	57.5	56.5	58.5	-2.0
Finland	57.4	58.8	55.7	3.1
Austria	56.9	56.8	57.0	-0.2
Slovakia	56.1	55.5	56.6	-1.1
Slovenia	55.5	56.3	54.6	1.7
Estonia	53.9	52.7	55.0	-2.3
Latvia	52.3	51.0	53.7	-2.7

United Kingdom	61.2	61.5	60.8	0.7

EFTA Countries:
Norway	70.4	71.7	69.1	2.6
Switzerland	60.5	61.5	59.5	2.0
Source: Eurostat, Population and Social Conditions
¹Sorted by "Total Persons", descending.
²Data unavailable for EU candidate countries.

Open in Excel: Measuring Ireland's Progress, 2019 Table 5.5 (XLS 11KB)

In 2018, females in Ireland had a healthy life expectancy of 70.4 years, 6.2 years higher than the EU27 average of 64.2 years and the third highest in the EU27.
Males in Ireland had a healthy life expectancy of 68.4 years, the third highest in the EU27 and 4.7 years higher than the EU27 average of 63.7 years.
Seven countries in the EU27 reported a higher number of healthy life years for males than females, namely the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Portugal, Sweden, Slovenia, and Luxembourg.
The Netherlands had the highest number of healthy life years for males relative to females, with a differential of 3.9 years. Conversely, Poland had the highest gender differential for females relative to males at 3.8 years.
Only Spain had a gender differential of zero; both males and females had the same healthy life expectancy of 68.0 years.

By country: Proportion of life expectancy in poor health for males

Table 5.6 By country: Proportion of Life Expectancy in poor health for males, 2018^1,2
	Years			%
Country	Life expectancy	Healthy life years	Number of years in poor health	Proportion of Life Expectancy in Poor Health
Sweden	80.9	73.7	7.2	8.9
Bulgaria	71.5	64.0	7.5	10.5
Malta	80.4	71.9	8.5	10.6
Ireland	80.5	68.4	12.1	15.0
Spain	80.7	68.0	12.7	15.7
Hungary	72.7	60.4	12.3	16.9
Germany	78.6	65.1	13.5	17.2
Romania	71.7	59.2	12.5	17.4
Italy	81.2	66.8	14.4	17.7
Poland	73.7	60.5	13.2	17.9
Greece	79.3	65.0	14.3	18.0
Czech Republic	76.2	62.2	14.0	18.4
EU27	78.2	63.7	14.5	18.5
Belgium	79.4	63.2	16.2	20.4
France	79.7	63.4	16.3	20.5
Lithuania	70.9	56.3	14.6	20.6
Denmark	79.1	62.5	16.6	21.0
Luxembourg	80.1	61.4	18.7	23.3
Cyprus	80.9	62.0	18.9	23.4
Portugal	78.3	59.8	18.5	23.6
Netherlands	80.3	61.1	19.2	23.9
Croatia	74.9	56.5	18.4	24.6
Slovakia	73.9	55.5	18.4	24.9
Finland	79.1	58.8	20.3	25.7
Latvia	70.1	51.0	19.1	27.2
Slovenia	78.5	56.3	22.2	28.3
Austria	79.4	56.8	22.6	28.5
Estonia	74.0	52.7	21.3	28.8
United Kingdom	79.5	61.5	18.0	22.6

EFTA Countries:
Norway	81.1	71.7	9.4	11.6
Switzerland	81.9	61.5	20.4	24.9
Source: Eurostat, Population and Social Conditions
¹Sorted by "Proportion of Life Expectancy in Poor Health", ascending.
²Data unavailable for EU candidate countries.

Open in Excel: Measuring Ireland's Progress, 2019 Table 5.6 (XLS 11KB)

Men in Ireland in 2018 could expect to live 68.4 healthy life years, and 12.1 years in poor health, out of a total life expectancy of 80.5 years. This is equivalent to a proportion of life expectancy in poor health of 15.0%.
Ireland had the fourth lowest proportion of life expectancy in poor health for males in the EU27, after Sweden (8.9%), Bulgaria (10.5%) and Malta (10.6%).
The EU27 average for male healthy life years in 2018 was 63.7 years, while the expected number of years in poor health was 14.5 years. The average proportion of male life expectancy in poor health was 18.5%.
Estonia had the highest proportion of male life expectancy in poor health in the EU27, at 28.8%.

Country	Healthy Years	Poor Health
Sweden	73.7	7.2
Bulgaria	64	7.5
Malta	71.9	8.5
Ireland	68.4	12.1
Hungary	60.4	12.3
Romania	59.2	12.5
Spain	68	12.7
Poland	60.5	13.2
Germany	65.1	13.5
Czech Republic	62.2	14
Greece	65	14.3
Italy	66.8	14.4
EU27	63.7	14.5
Lithuania	56.3	14.6
Belgium	63.2	16.2
France	63.4	16.3
Denmark	62.5	16.6
Croatia	56.5	18.4
Slovakia	55.5	18.4
Portugal	59.8	18.5
Luxembourg	61.4	18.7
Cyprus	62	18.9
Latvia	51	19.1
Netherlands	61.1	19.2
Finland	58.8	20.3
Estonia	52.7	21.3
Slovenia	56.3	22.2
Austria	56.8	22.6

By country: Proportion of life expectancy in poor health for females

Table 5.7 By country: Proportion of life expectancy in poor health for females, 2018^1,2
Country	Years			%
Country	Life Expectancy	Healthy Life Years	Number of Years in Poor Health	Proportion of Life Expectancy in Poor Health
Malta	84.6	73.4	11.2	13.2
Bulgaria	78.6	67.6	11.0	14.0
Sweden	84.3	72.0	12.3	14.6
Ireland	84.1	70.4	13.7	16.3
Germany	83.3	66.3	17.0	20.4
Spain	86.3	68.0	18.3	21.2
Poland	81.7	64.3	17.4	21.3
Italy	85.6	66.9	18.7	21.8
Greece	84.4	65.9	18.5	21.9
Hungary	79.6	61.8	17.8	22.4
Czech Republic	82.0	63.4	18.6	22.7
EU27	83.7	64.2	19.5	23.3
Belgium	83.9	63.7	20.2	24.1
Romania	79.2	59.6	19.6	24.7
France	85.9	64.5	21.4	24.9
Cyprus	84.8	62.4	22.4	26.4
Lithuania	80.7	59.1	21.6	26.8
Croatia	81.5	58.5	23.0	28.2
Denmark	82.9	59.1	23.8	28.7
Luxembourg	84.6	59.8	24.8	29.3
Slovakia	80.8	56.6	24.2	30.0
Netherlands	83.4	57.2	26.2	31.4
Portugal	84.5	57.5	27.0	32.0
Austria	84.1	57.0	27.1	32.2
Latvia	79.7	53.7	26.0	32.6
Estonia	82.7	55.0	27.7	33.5
Finland	84.5	55.7	28.8	34.1
Slovenia	84.4	54.6	29.8	35.3

United Kingdom	83.1	60.8	22.3	26.8

EFTA Countries:
Norway	84.5	69.1	15.4	18.2
Switzerland	85.7	59.5	26.2	30.6
Source: Eurostat, Population and Social Conditions
¹Sorted by "Proportion of Life Expectancy in Poor Health", ascending.
²Data unavailable for EU candidate countries.

Open in Excel: Measuring Ireland's Progress, 2019 Table 5.7 (XLS 12KB)

In 2018, females in Ireland could expect to experience 70.4 healthy life years and 13.7 years in poor health, out of a total life expectancy of 84.1 years.
In the EU27, Ireland had the fourth lowest proportion of life expectancy in poor health for females in 2018 at 16.3%. Malta had the lowest proportion of life expectancy in poor health (13.2%), followed by Bulgaria (14.0%) and Sweden (14.6%).
The EU27 average for female healthy life expectancy in 2018 was 64.2 years, while the number of years in poor health was 19.5 years. The proportion of female life expectancy in poor health was 23.3%.
Slovenia had the highest proportion of life expectancy for females in poor health at 35.3%.

Country	Healthy Years	Poor Health
Bulgaria	67.6	11
Malta	73.4	11.2
Sweden	72	12.3
Ireland	70.4	13.7
Germany	66.3	17
Poland	64.3	17.4
Hungary	61.8	17.8
Spain	68	18.3
Greece	65.9	18.5
Czech Republic	63.4	18.6
Italy	66.9	18.7
EU27	64.2	19.5
Romania	59.6	19.6
Belgium	63.7	20.2
France	64.5	21.4
Lithuania	59.1	21.6
Cyprus	62.4	22.4
Croatia	58.5	23
Denmark	59.1	23.8
Slovakia	56.6	24.2
Luxembourg	59.8	24.8
Latvia	53.7	26
Netherlands	57.2	26.2
Portugal	57.5	27
Austria	57	27.1
Estonia	55	27.7
Finland	55.7	28.8
Slovenia	54.6	29.8

Measuring Ireland's Progress 2019

Health

Ireland: Current public expenditure on health care

By country: Total expenditure on health as a percentage of GDP

Ireland: Life expectancy at birth and at age 65 by sex

By country: Life expectancy at birth by sex

By country: Healthy life years at birth by sex

By country: Proportion of life expectancy in poor health for males

By country: Proportion of life expectancy in poor health for females

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