The report, published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) on Friday, revealed that health spending increased by 3.1 percent to 195.7 billion AUD (142.2 billion USD) in the financial year 2018-19 - down from an average increase of 3.5 percent per year over the last decade.
More than two thirds of that spending was by governments on services such as Medicare, Australia's universal health care system, with the federal government spending 80.6 billion AUD (58.6 billion USD) and state and territory governments a combined 53 billion AUD (38.5 billion USD).
The report covers a period prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, with spending expected to have increased significantly in 2019-20 as a result of the pandemic.
"Spending in 2018-19 equated to an average of 7,772 AUD (5,650.8 USD) per person," Adrian Webster, an AIHW spokesperson, said in a media release.
"In real terms, this was 111 AUD (80.7 USD or 1.5 percent) more per person than in 2017-18, slightly lower than the average growth over the decade of 1.9 percent.
"Health spending represented around 10 percent of economic activity in 2018-19, roughly the same as the previous year. This has not increased since 2015-16."
Government health spending accounted for 24.3 percent of tax revenue, down from 24.5 percent.
"In terms of the key health services, spending on hospitals grew by 2.8 billion AUD (2.03 billion USD) in real terms to 79 billion AUD (57.4 billion USD), making up 40.4 percent of total health spending," Webster said.
Latest comments