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System of Health Accounts 2023

Expenditure by Functions of Health Care

Online ISSN: 2009-8812

CSO statistical release, 23 June 2025, 11am

What is the purpose of the health care being consumed?

In 2023 more than half (58%) of all health expenditure related to curative and rehabilitative care; this mainly covers in-patient and out-patient care. The next largest category, 22% of all health expenditure, was long-term care. See Figure 6.1. Table 6.1 includes more details and shows that in-patient services were the largest component of both long-term care and curative/rehabilitative care.

There has been increased spending across all areas of curative and rehabilitative care, particularly in day care which saw a 62% increase in expenditure since 2019. Spending on long-term care has increased by 39% since 2019. There was increased spending in preventative care from 2020 due to measures implemented to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a lower rate of growth in medical goods and pharmaceuticals (22%). See Figure 6.2.

	Current Health Care Expenditure By Function, (% Current Health Care Expenditure)
Curative and Rehabilitative Care	58
Long-Term Care (Health)	22
Medical Goods (Non-Specified by Function)	12
Ancillary Services	3
Other Health Care Functions	6

	Current Health Care Expenditure By Function, (% change 2019 to 2023)
Curative and Rehabilitative Care	45
Long-Term Care (Health)	39
Medical Goods (Non-Specified by Function)	22
Ancillary Services	29
Other Health Care Functions	74

Table 6.1: Current Health Care Expenditure by Health Care function, 2019 to 2023

Table 6.1: Current Health Care Expenditure by Health Care Function, 2019 to 2023
				€ million					% of Total	% change
ICHA-HC Code				2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2023	2019 - 2023
HC.1+HC.2		Curative and Rehabilitative Care		13,493	14,827	15,815	17,634	19,583	58	45
	HC.1.1+HC.2.1		Inpatient Care	6,015	6,766	6,951	7,761	8,556	26	42
	HC.1.2+HC.2.2		Day Care	1,869	1,937	2,285	2,568	3,034	9	62
	HC.1.3+HC.2.3		Outpatient Care	4,829	5,259	5,649	6,269	6,871	20	42
	HC.1.4+HC.2.4		Home-Based Care	781	865	930	1,037	1,122	3	44

HC.3		Long-Term Care (Health)		5,213	5,783	6,011	6,630	7,244	22	39
	HC.3.1		Inpatient Care	2,977	3,307	3,659	4,067	4,438	13	49
	HC.3.2		Day Care	224	253	245	272	297	1	33
	HC.3.4		Home-Based Care	2,011	2,224	2,107	2,290	2,509	7	25

HC.4		Ancillary Services		670	693	734	774	861	3	29
	HC.4.1		Laboratory Services	252	262	269	295	322	1	28
	HC.4.2		Imaging Services	175	157	175	167	189	1	8
	HC.4.3		Patient Transportation	243	274	290	312	350	1	44

HC.5		Medical Goods (Non-Specified by Function)		3,226	3,511	3,605	3,794	3,945	12	22
	HC.5.1		Pharmaceuticals and Other Medical Non-Durables	2,900	3,194	3,261	3,423	3,551	11	22
	HC.5.2		Therapeutic Appliances and Other Medical Goods	326	316	344	371	394	1	21

HC.6		Preventive Care		627	855	1,683	1,445	886	3	41
	HC.6.1		Information, Education and Counselling	91	108	114	140	130	0	43
	HC.6.2		Immunisation Programmes	52	70	366	349	66	0	27
	HC.6.3		Early Disease Detection	87	245	662	400	153	0	75
	HC.6.4		Healthy Condition Monitoring	212	209	227	263	309	1	46
	HC.6.5		Epidemiological Surveillance, Disease Control	89	120	194	161	87	0	-2
	HC.6.6		Disaster and Emergency Response	2	0	0	0	0	0	-100
	HC.6.9		Preventative Care N.E.C	94	102	120	133	142	0	51

HC.7		Governance and Health System Administration and Financing		597	766	831	827	749	2	25
	HC.7.1		Govt Health Administration Agencies	237	254	260	265	299	1	26
	HC.7.2		Administration of Health Financing	360	511	572	562	450	1	25

HC.9		Health Care Services N.E.C		244	218	254	259	263	1	8

		Total		24,070	26,652	28,935	31,364	33,531	100	39

Open in Excel: System of Health Accounts 2023 Table 6.1 (XLS 13KB)

Visit Table SHA11 on PxStat

How are health care services funded?

Figure 6.3 below provides a breakdown of health care expenditure by health care function and financing source for 2023. As noted earlier in this release, 77% of health care expenditure was funded by Government in 2023, with 12% by health insurance and the remaining 11% by household out-of-pocket payments. The differences from the total financing scheme split show that there is very little spending on long term care by private health insurance companies. As expected, there is no spending on administration by households.

Most spending on long-term care is by government sources, in 2023 84% of the expenditure was by government sources, 8% of long-term care was paid directly by households with the remaining 2% paid for by voluntary schemes - in the case of long term care these schemes will be mostly non-profit organisations.

	HF.1 - Government and Compulsory	HF.2 - Voluntary Health Care Payment Schemes	HF.3 - Household Out-of-Pocket Payments
Curative and Rehabilitative Care	76.3669640105098	15.7221464287752	7.91088956071501
Long-Term Care (Health)	83.6115865073953	1.73969916327014	14.6487143293345
Ancillary Services	74.5161480385456	20.4939649742878	4.9898869871666
Medical goods (Non-Specified by Function)	74.0279494464329	0	25.9720505535671
Preventative Care	67.0104018753874	20.4737695004828	12.5158286241298
Governance and Health System administration and financing	35.9054030436381	64.0945969563619	0
Health Care Services N.E.C	93.6375160126138	6.3624839873862	0
Total Current Health Care Expenditure	76.5934723263281	12.1070512829981	11.2994763906739

Table 6.2: Current Health Care Expenditure by Health Care Function and Health Care Financing Scheme, 2023

Table 6.2: Current Health Care Expenditure by Health Care Function and Health Care Financing Scheme, 2023
												€ million
				Govt and Compulsory	Government Financing	Compulsory Contributory	Voluntary Health Care Payment	Voluntary Health Insurance	NPISH Financing Scheme	Enterprise Financing Scheme	Household Out-of-Pocket Payments	Total
ICHA Code				HF.1	HF.1.1	HF.1.2	HF.2	HF.2.1	HF.2.2	HF.2.3	HF.3
HC.1+HC.2		Curative and Rehabilitative Care		14,955	14,891	64	3,079	2,897	21	162	1,549	19,583
	HC.1.1+HC.2.1		Inpatient Care	6,665	6,665	..	1,786	1,736	1	49	105	8,556
	HC.1.2+HC.2.2		Day Care	2,132	2,132	..	866	846	..	20	36	3,034
	HC.1.3+HC.2.3		Outpatient Care	5,161	5,097	64	385	304	9	72	1,325	6,871
	HC.1.4+HC.2.4		Home-Based Care	996	996	..	43	11	11	21	83	1,122

HC.3		Long-Term Care (Health)		6,057	6,001	56	126	..	29	97	1,061	7,244
	HC.3.1		Inpatient Care	3,316	3,316	..	93	..	22	71	1,029	4,438
	HC.3.2		Day Care	281	281	..	6	..	2	5	10	297
	HC.3.4		Home-Based Care	2,460	2,403	56	27	..	6	21	22	2,509

HC.4		Ancillary Services		642	642	..	176	175	..	2	43	861
	HC.4.1		Laboratory Services	253	253	..	42	40	..	1	28	322
	HC.4.2		Imaging Services	55	55	..	129	129	..	..	4	189
	HC.4.3		Patient Transportation	334	334	..	6	5	..	..	11	350

HC.5		Medical Goods (Non-Specified by Function)		2,920	2,841	79	..	..	..	..	1,025	3,945
	HC.5.1		Pharmaceuticals and Other Medical Non-Durables	2,810	2,810	..	..	..	..	..	741	3,551
	HC.5.2		Therapeutic Appliances and Other Medical Goods	110	31	79	..	..	..	..	284	394

HC.6		Preventative Care		594	594	..	181	9	16	157	111	886
	HC.6.1		Information, Education and Counselling	126	126	..	3	3	..	..	..	130
	HC.6.2		Immunisation Programmes	65	65	..	1	1	..	..	..	66
	HC.6.3		Early Disease Detection	149	149	..	3	3	..	..	..	153
	HC.6.4		Healthy Condition Monitoring	40	40	..	158	1	0	156	111	309
	HC.6.5		Epidemiological Surveillance, Disease Control	87	87	..	..	..	..	..	..	87
	HC.6.6		Disaster and Emergency Response	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
	HC.6.9		Preventative Care N.E.C	126	126	..	16	..	16	..	..	142

HC.7		Governance and Health System Administration and Financing		269	269	..	480	450	10	20	..	749
	HC.7.1		Govt Health Administration Agencies	269	269	..	30	..	10	20	..	299
	HC.7.2		Administration of Health Financing	..	..	..	450	450	..	..	..	450

HC.9		Health Care Services N.E.C		246	246	..	17	16	..	1	..	263

		Total		25,683	25,483	200	4,060	3,546	76	438	3,789	33,531
Data has been suppressed within the breakdown of HC.5 Medical Goods (Non-Specified by Function)and HF.2.1 Voluntary Health Insurance for confidentiality reasons.
.. Data not available

Open in Excel: System of Health Accounts 2023 Table 6.2 (XLS 14KB)

Visit Table SHA12 on PxStat

How are the health care services distributed across provider type?

Figure 6.4 contains details of health care services by health care providers. Most of the information is as expected: the majority of medical goods are provided by pharmacies and retailers; and nearly all administration functions are provided by the providers of the service. About one-third of curative/rehabilitative care is provided by providers of out-patient care. Two-thirds (66%) of long-term care is provided within long-term residential facilities. The rest is provided by out-patient care (13%) or the rest of the economy or home based care (19%).

	HP. 1 - Hospitals	HP.2 - Long Term Residential Facilities	HP.3 - Ambulatory Health Care Providers	HP.4 - Ancillary Health Care Providers	HP.5 - Retailers of Medical Goods	HP.6 - Providers of Preventative Care	HP.7 - Providers of Health Care Administration and Financing	HP.8 - Rest of Economy	HP.9 - Rest of World	HP.0 - Providers N.E.C
Curative and Rehabilitative Care	64.8738453422318	4.99108690906581	29.4473946557848	0	0.0407674056764622	0.0324060141994394	0	0.141707436704884	0.47249937482741	0.000292861509382233
Long-Term Care (Health)	2.47405953527242	65.5654772230234	12.5599736754596	0	0	0	0	19.4004895662446	0	0
Ancillary Services	50.8722314720899	0.00343189211596302	0.322638162969643	48.3912926529415	0	0	0	0	0.410405819882987	0
Medical goods (Non-Specified by Function)	1.4034728037445	0	0	0	98.1386506714996	0	0	0.457876524755863	0	0
Preventative Care	0.0227810161098243	0	41.7435175132784	0.0118808537134384	0	36.5850554694851	0	21.6366716702449	9.34771682936262E-05	0
Governance and Health System administration and financing	0	0	0	0	0	1.1134439884728	98.8865560115272	0	0	0
Health Care Services N.E.C	1.45191658190988	0	0.889621850105308	0	0	0	0	0.33289720135126	0	97.3255643666335
Total Current Health Care Expenditure	39.905591091726	17.0801155754433	21.0301308667942	1.24303744648271	11.5696585053873	1.01094495264475	2.20901201262716	4.90260477709686	0.286490583632278	0.762414188165489

Table 6.3: Current Health Care Expenditure by Health Care Function and Health Care Provider, 2023

Table 6.3: Current Health Care Expenditure by Health Care Function and Health Care Provider, 2023
											€ million
			Hospitals	Long-Term Residential Facilities	Ambulatory Health Care Providers	Ancillary Health Care Providers	Retailers of Medical Goods	Providers of Preventative Care	Rest of the Economy	Other⁴	Total
ICHA Code			HP.1	HP.2	HP.3	HP.4	HP.5	HP.6	HP.8	HP.7¹HP.9²HP.0³
HC.1+HC.2		Curative and Rehabilitative Care	12,704	977	5,767	..	8	6	28	93	19,583
	HC.1.1+HC.2.1	Inpatient Care	7,697	760	13	..	..	..	..	86	8,556
	HC.1.2+HC.2.2	Day Care	2,691	4	339	..	..	..	..	1	3,034
	HC.1.3+HC.2.3	Outpatient Care	2,258	22	4,550	..	8	..	27	6	6,871
	HC.1.4+HC.2.4	Home-Based Care	57	192	865	..	..	6	1	0	1,122

HC.3		Long-Term Care (Health)	179	4,750	910	..	..	..	1,405	..	7,244
	HC.3.1	Inpatient Care	179	4,259	..	..	..	..	..	..	4,438
	HC.3.2	Day Care	..	3	295	..	..	..	..	..	297
	HC.3.4	Home-Based Care	..	488	615	..	..	..	1,405	..	2,509

HC.4		Ancillary Services	438	0	3	417	..	..	..	4	861
	HC.4.1	Laboratory Services	247	0	0	75	..	..	..	0	322
	HC.4.2	Imaging Services	132	0	1	55	..	..	..	0	189
	HC.4.3	Patient Transportation	59	0	1	286	..	..	..	3	350

HC.5		Medical Goods (Non-Specified by Function)	55	..	..	..	3,871	..	18	..	3,945
	HC.5.1	Pharmaceuticals and Other Medical Non-Durables	55	..	..	..	3,479	..	16	..	3,551
	HC.5.2	Therapeutic Appliances and Other Medical Goods	..	..	..	..	392	..	2	..	394

HC.6		Preventative Care	0	..	370	0	..	324	192	0	886
	HC.6.1	Information, Education and Counselling	0	..	29	..	..	71	30	..	130
	HC.6.2	Immunisation Programmes	..	..	66	..	..	..	..	..	66
	HC.6.3	Early Disease Detection	0	..	3	0	..	149	..	0	153
	HC.6.4	Healthy Condition Monitoring	0	..	146	0	..	..	162	..	309
	HC.6.5	Epidemiological Surveillance, Disease Control	..	..	0	..	..	87	..	..	87
	HC.6.6	Disaster and Emergency Response	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	0
	HC.6.9	Preventative Care N.E.C	..	..	125	..	..	17	..	..	142

HC.7		Governance and Health System Administration and Financing	..	..	..	..	..	8	..	741	749
	HC.7.1	Govt Health Administration Agencies	..	..	..	..	..	8	..	291	299
	HC.7.2	Administration of Health Financing	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	450	450

HC.9		Health Care Services N.E.C	4	..	2	..	..	..	1	256	263

		Total	13,381	5,727	7,052	417	3,879	339	1,644	1,092	33,531
¹HP.7 Providers of Health Care Administration and Financing
² HP.9 Rest of World
³HP.0 Providers N.E.C
⁴ For presentation purposes some smaller categories have been combined. A superscript identifies the provider for each service function and full data is available in PxStat.
.. Data not available