The Countries With The Best And Worst Healthcare Around The World, Ranked
This should surprise no one, but when it comes to the efficiency of a country's healthcare system, the US is far from a picture of health.
According to Bloomberg's Healthcare Efficiency Index, which is based on factors such as the longevity of a country's citizens and the relative and absolute costs of healthcare, the US ranks pretty low on the list.
The index itself ranks countries with average lifespans of over 70 years, a GDP per-capita that exceeds $5,000.and a minimum population of 5 million:
Hong Kong tops the chart with the most efficient healthcare system in the world, followed by Singapore. In fact, Asia seems to have the edge when it comes to the robustness of healthcare systems, with Asian countries and regions making up half of the top 10 list.
But what about the US? If we look at per-capita spending on health care, the US spent an average $9,536 in 2015, according to Bloomberg. In contrast, Switzerland, the country with the highest per-capita spending, spent $9,818. However, the average lifespan of a Swiss is almost 83 years old, four years more than the average life expectancy of an American, which is 79.
If we look at healthcare costs relative to a country's GDP, figures from the US remain troubling. Data from Bloomberg shows that Americans spent 16.8 percent on healthcare, which is more than double the 7.3 percent residents from the Czech Republic, a country with a similar average life expectancy, expended relative to its GDP in 2015.
See here for a more detailed version of Bloomberg's Healthcare Efficiency Index.
