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Healthcare in the region, what are the per capita expenses?

2026-06-26 13:20:00, Ekonomi CNA

Financing health systems and managing the costs of hospital services remain a common challenge for all Western Balkan countries. The latest data published by Eurostat for 2024 show how much is actually spent per capita on inpatient care services (hospital services) across our region.

According to official statistics, the distribution of these costs varies significantly from one country to another. At the top of the regional ranking is Albania, which spends 135 euros per capita on hospitalization. It is followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina with 111 euros per capita, followed by Serbia with 92 euros and Montenegro with 79 euros. At the bottom of this list for 2024 is North Macedonia, which reports the lowest value with only 42 euros per capita.

The data represent total expenditures, meaning they include both public funds, such as the state budget and insurance, as well as money that citizens pay directly out of their pockets for hospital services.

In countries where the state covers less cost, citizens spend more privately, which automatically increases the total value reported per capita. This is the case of Albania, which has public spending on health at the lowest regional levels, but on the other hand, spending per capita is very high due to direct out-of-pocket payments.

In many economies in the region, a significant portion of hospital care costs are covered by out-of-pocket payments from patients, which are added to scarce public or health insurance funds. This makes the nominal figures reflect more the cost that the individual can afford than the government investment per capita.

The Western Balkan countries are characterized by low levels of public spending and investment in healthcare systems by European standards. Historically, this indicator for our region has remained below the European Union average, which in recent years has fluctuated between 7% and 10% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Within this region, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro maintain the highest levels of spending, being the only ones that exceed the 5% of GDP threshold. At a lower level, North Macedonia allocates around 3.8% of GDP to public health. Finally, Albania and Kosovo historically rank at the bottom of this regional table, where in the specific case of Albania, spending on the public health sector has fluctuated in the range of 2.8% to 2.9% of GDP./ Monitor