The Distribution of Health Expenditures in Hungary

Based on data by the Central Statistical Office (KSH), the GKI economic research institute examined the structure of Hungarian health care expenditures, which provides an important picture of the extent to which the system relies on public resources, and of the role played by household financing and voluntary health insurance financing within the system.

For most health care subsystems, public expenditure constitutes the main pillar of financing. In 2023, the state covered 93% of long-term care services, 94.7% of curative and rehabilitative inpatient and day-care services, 87% of clinical laboratory, diagnostic, and patient transport services, and 75.3% of the total cost of the prevention subsystem. This indicates that the most severe services requiring long-term, sustained treatment are accessible to the population through public funding, which is not surprising, as these services are rarely provided by private health care providers.

In 2023, an average Hungarian household spent, in addition to public contributions (taxes and social security contributions), an average of HUF 272,000 on direct health care expenditures. The largest portion of this was spent on pharmaceuticals and medical devices (HUF 152,000), while households spent an average of HUF 89,000 annually on outpatient care.

Total health care expenditures per capita reached HUF 503,000 in 2023, of which HUF 371,000 was covered by the state budget. Based on this, the share of public financing was 73.7%, compared to 68.7% in 2019. The increasing share of public funding is mainly attributable to additional expenditures related to salary increases for health care workers.

Overall, the structure of Hungarian health care expenditures presents a dual picture: the state dominates in severe, long-term care services, while households bear a significant direct financial burden in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and outpatient care.