Health, education expenditures rose last year

ANKARA

Turkey’s health and education spending increased in 2020 compared with the previous year, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) have shown.

The country’s total health expenditures amounted to 250 billion Turkish Liras (around $18.4 billion) last year, marking a 24.3 percent rise from 2019.

The general government spending increased more than 26 percent on an annual basis to 198 billion liras, while the private sector’s health expenditure exhibited a 17.3 percent rise from 2019 to stand at some 52 billion liras.

The general government’s spending accounted for over 79 percent of all health expenditure, while the private sector’s share was 21 percent.

In the private sector category, households’ health expenditures stood at 40.1 billion liras in 2020, up from the previous year’s 33.6 billion liras, while insurance companies’ share was 2.6 percent, or 6.5 billion liras.

Per capita health expenditure in the country increased by 23.1 percent to 2,997 liras and total health expenditures accounted for 5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), up from 4.7 percent in 2019.

Households’ out of pocket health spending, including payments for treatment and drugs, amounted to 40.1 billion liras in 2020, rising 19.3 percent from the previous year.

Back in 2011, total health expenditures in Turkey were 54.6 billion liras.

TÜİK also reported that total education expenditures in the country increased by 4.5 percent on an annual basis last year to 271 billion liras. In 2011, those expenditures stood at 77.3 billion liras.

The share of education spending in GDP declined to 5.4 percent last year from 6 percent in 2019.

Some 75 percent of all education expenditures were met by public resources, while households’ share was 20.2 percent.