Pandemic: Corona caused health spending to rise in 2022

Pandemic
Corona caused health spending to rise in 2022

The corona pandemic drove up health spending in Germany in 2022. According to the Federal Statistical Office, 5,939 euros per inhabitant were spent on health, 12.8 percent of the gross domestic product. The total health expenditure in 2022 was 497.7 billion euros, 4.8 percent or 22.6 billion higher than in 2021.

The main reason was that Pandemic: “From the beginning of the corona pandemic at the beginning of 2020 to the end of 2022, health spending increased by 20.0 percent or 83.1 billion euros,” said the statisticians. 36.1 billion euros of health spending in 2022 was related to the pandemic. 40 percent of this sum went to tests in accordance with the test regulations – self-tests paid for by citizens are also included. Vaccinations accounted for 26 percent of this total.

Half of health expenditure is with health insurance companies

A good half of health spending in 2022 was covered by statutory health insurance companies. Nursing insurance and private households and organizations each contributed around 11 percent of the expenditure.

For 2023, the Federal Statistical Office estimates that health spending will decline slightly. This means that the year 2023 would be only the second year with a decline in health spending since the calculations began in 1992. “The decisive factor for this is the expected decline in corona-related public budget spending in 2023,” said the statisticians.

dpa