Health: significant increase in spending in 2023, according to Drees

Expenditure on medical care and goods has "accelerated" to reach 249 billion euros in 2023 (+5.2%), or an average expenditure of 3,660 euros per inhabitant, according to the annual report on health accounts from Drees, published on Thursday.

This consumption of medical care and goods (CSBM) is "more dynamic than before the crisis", driven by the consumption of hospital care (+5.7 %), city care (+5.7 %) and medicines (+3.1%), specify the statistical services of the social ministries (Drees).

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The share of these expenses in GDP decreases slightly to 8.8%, a level close to that before the Covid-19 epidemic. Between 2010 and 2019, the growth of these expenses was around 2.0% per year.

The CSBM covers hospital care, fees for doctors, dentists or analysis laboratories, paramedical care, patient transport, medicines and medical devices, etc. However, its scope does not include long-term care or prevention, such as vaccination.

Hospital care spending reached 122 billion euros (49% of the total), driven by hospital salaries and rising energy prices. Prices increased more in the public sector, a consequence of a "marked increase in hospital salaries", including the increase in night and weekend shift allowances, decided in the summer of 2023.

City care cost 72 billion euros (+5.7%). The increase is particularly strong among specialist doctors (+6.6%). Between 2019 and 2023, spending among specialists increased by 18.5%, compared to 3.4% among general practitioners.

In 2023, the cost of medical transport also increased significantly (+10.8%).

Drug spending "is increasing for the third consecutive year", reaching 33 billion euros. For the DREES, this increase reflects in particular "the effect of innovation", while the number of boxes of reimbursable drugs delivered in pharmacies is decreasing by 1.1%.

Since 2019, the structure of health expenditure financing has changed: Social Security and the State financed 80.1% of the CSBM in 2023, i.e. 1.5 points more than in 2019, while complementary organizations financed 12.4% (-0.7 points) and households 7.5% (-0.9 points).

For households, this remaining charge, after reimbursements from health insurance and supplementary health insurance, amounts to approximately 274 euros per year per person.