Govt health spend must hit 2.5% of GDP by 2025, says Economic Survey

At the same time, out-of-pocket expenditure as a percentage of total health expenditure has declined from 64.2 per cent in FY14 to 48.2 per cent in FY19

To make universal healthcare accessible and affordable, the public health expenditure of the Centre and states together should be increased in a progressive manner to reach 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2025, the Economic Survey 2022-23 said.

Quoting the 15th Finance Commission and the National Health Policy, 2017, the Economic Survey recommended an increase in the government’s health expenditure from the existing 1.2 per cent to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2025. Central and states’ budgeted expenditure on the health sector reached 2.1 per cent of GDP in FY23 (BE) and 2.2 per cent in FY22 (RE), against