Numerous indicators are used to make international comparisons of health spending. Using either of these measures, health care spending in the United States far exceeds that of most other nations.
Health systems vary rather dramatically from one country to the next.
However, there were substantial differences in the rate of growth. U.S. health spending far outstripped GDP growth, rising from 7.4 percent of GDP in 1970 to 13.2 percent in 1991. In contrast, health spending h the United Kingdom grew from 4.5 to 6.6 percent. CRS estimates based on OECD health data, 1993. Individual nations experience different rates of growth in their populations, changes in demographic makeup, changes in use and supply of health care, and changes in prices, all of which make it difficult to make international comparisons of health spending.