This report presents estimates of the amount spent on health goods and services in Australia for 2022–23 and the decade leading up to this. It provides a clear picture of how much was spent on health, by who, and in which areas.

The report’s estimates are based on data from the AIHW’s Health Expenditure Database (HED), a collation of more than 50 data sources capturing health spending by governments, individuals, private health insurers and other private sources.

This web report provides a summary of government spending on health in 2022–23. In this period, health spending returned to pre-pandemic levels: $252.5 billion was spent on health goods and services, 9.9% of overall economic activity. After adjusting for inflation, this is a 0.3% reduction from 2021–22. 

Key findings

• In 2022–23, total health spending has returned to the pre-pandemic trends, totalling $252.5 billion which equates to 9.9% of Gross Domestic Product.
• Health spending decreased by 0.3% in real terms, which was lower than the decade average growth of 3.3% per year.
• Governments funded around 70.8% of health spending – $101.5 billion by the Australian Government and $77.3 billion by state and territory governments in 2022–23.
• Government health spending was 17.1% of total government expenses, down 0.1 percentage points from 2021–22.
• Spending on hospitals was $107.1 billion, a real increase of 4.7% compared with the previous year.
• In 2022–23, spending on primary health care was $83.3 billion, a real decrease of 8.2% compared with 2021–22.