The latest data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) indicates that Canada is on track to spend $344 billion on health care in 2023, an increase of $9 billion (2.8%) from the previous year. CIHI’s new report, National health expenditure trends, 2023, was released today.
Health spending slowed considerably in 2022 — with a 1.5% growth rate — following surges in growth of 13.2% and 7.8% in 2020 and 2021, respectively, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 5 years prior to the pandemic (2015 to 2019), annual health spending growth was stable, averaging 4.3% per year. Health spending growth has not kept pace with inflation and population growth in 2022 and 2023.
Health care spending trends
The categories Hospitals, Physicians and Drugs represent more than 50% of total health spending in Canada in 2023. Efforts to clear surgical backlogs and wait times due to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to drive growth in the Hospitals and Physicians categories.
“Health spending growth has slowed since the peak of the pandemic,” said Ann Chapman, director of Spending and Primary Care at CIHI. “Staffing shortages in hospitals, the increased need for both hospital and physician services, contract renewals in an environment of persistently high inflation and population aging may be key drivers of health spending in the coming years.”
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About CIHI
The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) is an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing essential health information to all Canadians.
CIHI works closely with federal, provincial and territorial partners and stakeholders throughout Canada to gather, package and disseminate information to inform policy, management, care and research, leading to better and more equitable health outcomes for all Canadians.
Health information has become one of society’s most valuable public goods. For more than 25 years, CIHI has set the pace on data privacy, security, accessibility and innovation to improve Canada’s health systems.
CIHI: Better data. Better decisions. Healthier Canadians.
Media contacts
For English inquiries:
Jill Kinsella
media@cihi.ca
For French inquiries:
Meagan Foreman
media@icis.ca