The size of the healthcare services market in the Middle East and North Africa region reached $226.97 billion in 2023, and is expected to grow to $241.13 billion in 2024 and to $412.25 billion in 2032, showing a compound annual growth rate of 6.9% during the forecast period according to the “Fortune Business” platform. Insights.”
Healthcare spending in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries – but not limited to – is expected to reach $135.5 billion by 2027, according to the World Economic Forum.
The Middle East and North Africa market is growing due to several factors, including:
- Increased spending on health care.
- The increasing demand for these services.
- The spread of diseases as population increases.
- The number of elderly people is increasing.
- Government initiatives to improve access to health care.
- Increase private investment in healthcare infrastructure.
- Growing awareness of the importance of preventive health care.
Advances in technology, adoption of digital health services, and increasing public-private partnerships are also improving health care access to the general population.
However, there is a large disparity between health care services and the level of spending between the rich Arab countries and the rest of the Arab countries.
Globally, the value of the healthcare services market reached $11.3 trillion in 2022, and is expected to reach $19 trillion by 2028, with a compound annual growth of 8.96% during the expected period, according to what the “Insider Monkey” platform reported.
In this report, Al Jazeera Net presents some of the most prominent Arab countries spending on health care services and the amount of spending of these countries, taking into account several indicators, the most important of which are:
- Per capita spending on health: This is a basic indicator for health financing systems, and contributes to understanding total health spending relative to the number of beneficiary population, expressed in current international dollars according to purchasing power parity to facilitate international comparisons, according to the World Bank database for the year 2021 as a reference year.
- Average age in the country for both sexes together in 2023, according to the “World Publication Review” platform, based on United Nations statistics (2023).
- Health budgets of countries for the year 2024 as a reference year.
1- Saudi Arabia
- Per capita spending on health: $3029.
- Average age: 78.29 years.
- Health budget for 2024: 86.25 billion riyals ($23 billion).
The health sector remains a top priority for the Saudi government, and in 2024 the budget of the Saudi Ministry of Health reached 86.25 billion riyals ($23 billion), or 7% of the state’s general budget, according to the Saudi Ministry of Health platform.
Under Vision 2030, the Saudi government plans to invest more than $65 billion to develop the country’s healthcare infrastructure, reorganize and privatize health and insurance services, launch 21 health groups across the country, and expand the scope of providing e-health services according to the US International Trade Administration’s platform.
In addition, Saudi Arabia aims to increase the private sector’s contribution to the sector from 40 to 65% by 2030, and targets the privatization of 290 hospitals and 2,300 primary health centers, creating significant business opportunities for companies in the developing healthcare market in Saudi Arabia, according to the previous source.
2- Qatar
- Per capita spending on health: $2952.
- Average age: 81.9 years.
- Health budget for 2024: 21.8 billion riyals ($6 billion).
The Qatari government’s allocations to the health sector in the country were the highest among the ten vital sectors, at a value of 21.8 billion riyals ($6 billion) in 2024, and it accounts for 11% of the total expenditures announced in the budget, amounting to 202 billion riyals ($53.49 billion), and this indicates The great interest that Qatar pays to the health sector in the country.
Qatar launched the National Health Strategy 2024-2030 to deliver a health-focused society supported by an integrated health system focused on clinical excellence, sustainability and innovation.
The launch of the National Health Strategy 2024-2030 represents the next stage in Qatar’s health journey to provide the best health outcomes for the people of Qatar, according to the Qatari newspaper Al-Arab.
The National Health Strategy identified 3 priority strategic areas to work on:
- Improving population health and well-being.
- Excellence in service provision and patient experience.
- Health system efficiency and flexibility.
According to it, the country’s health system will be transformed into a fully digital system, and the new strategy seeks to achieve the health sector’s ambition of “building a health-focused society supported by an integrated health system based on clinical excellence, sustainability and innovation.”
3- UAE
- Per capita spending on health: $4065.
- Average age: 80.65 years.
- Health budget for 2024: 5 billion dirhams ($1.36 billion).
Health care represents one of the most important service sectors in the Emirates and occupies a special place on the government’s agenda. The government allocates a large share of its federal budget to the health care sector every year, in order to provide high-quality health services that meet the needs of citizens.
The federal budget allocated to health care in the UAE reached 5 billion dirhams ($1.36 billion) in 2024.
It is noteworthy that there is another budget for each emirate separately. For example, the Dubai Media Office said that the general budget of the Dubai government was approved with total expenditures of 246.6 billion dirhams ($67.14 billion) for the fiscal years 2024-2026.
The UAE seeks to digitize healthcare systems, use obstetric artificial intelligence, and provide access to a “smart” virtual care nursing platform covering emergency departments, operating rooms, intensive care units, and neonatal units.
4- Sultanate of Oman
- Per capita spending on health: 1646.6 dollars.
- Average age: 79.18 years.
- Health budget for 2024: 1.056 riyals ($2.73 billion).
The Omani government pays great attention to the public health of its citizens, and the value of spending allocations for the health sector reached 1.056 billion Omani riyals in 2024 compared to 946 million riyals in 2023, an increase of about 11 million riyals, according to the Oman newspaper.
The health sector accounts for 22% of spending on services in the Sultanate.
According to data published by the “Invest in Oman” platform on investment prospects in the health sector, the Sultanate of Oman has 88 hospitals with a capacity of 7,000 beds, in addition to 487 health centres, and the health sector needs 13,000 specialists in health fields by 2040.
5- Kuwait
- Per capita spending on health: 2908.3 dollars.
- Average age: 80.63 years.
- Health budget for 2024: 2.75 billion dinars ($8.9 billion).
Kuwait recorded one of the highest levels of healthcare spending as a proportion of GDP in the GCC, thanks to the Vision 2035 strategic development plan.
According to a report issued by BMI, health spending in the country as a percentage of GDP reached 5.1% in 2023.
6- Egypt
- Per capita spending on health: $615.
- Average age: 72.2 years.
- Health budget for 2024: 496 billion pounds ($10 billion).
The Egyptian government has allocated 469 billion pounds (about 10 billion dollars) to the health sector in the budget for the current fiscal year 2024/2025.
66% of the population enjoys public health insurance coverage (about 77 million citizens), according to estimates by the Ministry of Health and Population for the year 2023, which could leave millions in Egypt without coverage, according to Amnesty International.
The public health care system in Egypt suffers from a shortage of public hospital beds, providing only 1.4 beds per thousand people, which is much lower than the global average of 2.9 beds per thousand people.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi proposed in October 2023 that the government build hospitals and transfer them to the private sector to manage them due to the government’s mismanagement of public hospitals, which led to the issuance of a new law actually in June 2024, which allows the private sector to operate and manage. Public health facilities are based on profit.
The law does not include any price regulations, giving private investors and the government discretion to set prices on an independent, case-by-case basis.
Amnesty International said that Egypt’s new healthcare privatization law would jeopardize the access and availability of health services, especially for those who lack health insurance and/or live in poverty.
7- Algeria
- Per capita spending on health: $672.25.
- Average age: 77.54 years.
- Health budget for 2024: 848 billion dinars ($6.35 billion).
The Algerian government approved an amount of 848 billion Algerian dinars ($6.35 billion) in the country’s health sector budget for the year 2024.
Algerian Health Minister Abdelhak Sayhi revealed the allocation of 238 billion dinars ($1.78 billion) for prevention, 17 billion dinars ($127.4 million) for training, and 551 billion dinars ($4.13 billion) for public administration, running institutions and hospitals, and purchasing medicines.
The health system in Algeria suffers from a lack of medicines, equipment and personnel, which hinders an effective response.
8- Morocco
- Per capita spending on health: $515.76.
- Average age: 75.43 years.
- Health budget for 2024: About 31 billion dirhams ($3 billion).
The total budget allocated to the health and social protection sector in 2024 is about 31 billion dirhams ($3 billion), a total increase estimated at 55% compared to the 2021 budget, as announced by Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch.
On the other hand, Minister of Economy and Finance, Nadia Fattah Al-Alawi, confirmed that the government will increase the budget of the health and social protection sector by 1.9 billion dirhams in 2025 compared to the current year, to reach 32.6 billion dirhams ($3.25 billion).
The Moroccan healthcare system faces challenges, such as disparities in resources, insufficient funding, and non-communicable diseases, yet achievements such as universal health coverage and improving health indicators show progress.
To strengthen the system, addressing resource disparities, increasing funding and manpower, managing non-communicable diseases, adopting digital technologies, and focusing on prevention are all essential, and these steps can pave the way for an effective, comprehensive, and patient-centered health care system in Morocco.
9- Jordan
- Per capita spending on health: $738.52.
- Average age: 76.83 years.
- Health budget for 2024: 766 million dinars ($1.08 billion).
The Ministry of Health’s estimated budget for the year 2024 increased to 766 million dinars ($1.08 billion) from 701 million dinars ($988.5 million) for the year 2023, an increase of 65 million dinars ($91.6 million), according to the Jordanian newspaper Al-Ghad.
Jordan has a developed health system compared to other neighboring countries, as the total number of hospitals in the Kingdom reached 119, with a total number of beds approaching 16.2 thousand beds.
However, the country’s health sector faces many problems and challenges, such as weak governance, great pressure on health facilities, spacing of appointments, negative experiences among some patients, lack of clarity in mechanisms to protect the patient from medical errors, the terrifying spread of the smoking epidemic, and complaints that… Medicine in Jordan has turned into a trade.
10- Tunisia
- Per capita spending on health: $784.1.
- Average age: 77.16 years.
- Health budget for 2024: 3.93 billion dinars ($1.25 billion).
The budget of the Ministry of Health is the largest after the budgets of the Ministry of Education, Industry, Interior, and Defense, and represents 5.5% of the draft general state budget in 2024.
What about the situation in the world?
World Health Organization data in the 2023 Global Health Expenditure Report indicate that health spending reached a new high in 2021, reaching $9.8 trillion, or 10.3% of global GDP, coinciding with the outbreak of the “Covid-19” pandemic.
The average per capita spending on health reached about $4,000 in high-income countries, according to the organization’s report.
And according to Data issued by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2022, and the Investopedia platform reported:
- The United States ranks highest in health care spending among developed countries in the world, at $12,555 per capita.
- Switzerland ranked second with the highest health care budget, with spending reaching $8,049 per capita.
- Germany, Norway, and Austria rank third, fourth, and fifth, respectively, with each spending between $7,000 and $8,000 per capita.
