In 2016, the most recent year for which Eurostat have complete data, Luxembourg spent €5,613 per inhabitant on healthcare. This makes us the country that spends the most per capita within the Union, followed by Sweden (€5,123), and Denmark (€5,014). Looking across neighbouring borders, France spent €3,847, Germany €4,217, and Belgium €3,744. The EU average was €2,905.
However, the fact that we spend the most per capita in real terms does not mean that we are the country that allocates the largest part of our budget to healthcare. Viewed as a percentage of GDP, Luxembourg spends the second least - at 6.2% of GDP, only Romania (5%) spend less.
Luxembourg Insider: how Luxembourg’s healthcare system worksThe EU average here is 9.9%, and our neighbours in Belgium spend 10%, France 11.5%, and Germany 11.1% of GDP on healthcare.
The Health Consumer Powerhouse publish a regular Euro Health Consumer Index, which ranks countries’ healthcare systems based on a series of factors such as patient rights and information, accessibility (including waiting times), outcomes, range of services, prevention, and pharmaceuticals.
The 2018 edition of the guide places Luxembourg in 7th position in Europe as a whole, and 5th in the EU. Looking at all of Europe, Switzerland comes out in first place with a score of 893 out of 1000, followed by the Netherlands (883), Norway (857), Denmark (855), Belgium (849), Finland (839), and Luxembourg (809).
The report notes that Luxembourg could likely score even higher, and has indeed complained about one aspect of the report in particular - cigarette consumption. The report notes that Luxembourg has protested on the grounds that “most of those cigarettes are smoked by other nationalities,” but counters that “from a European public health standpoint, selling cheap cigarettes and alcohol to your neighbours is no better than consuming it all yourself.”
It also states that Luxembourg “has for a long time allowed its citizens to seek care in neighbouring countries. It seems that they do seek care in good hospitals.” This, the report suggests, probably means that Luxembourg’s patients probably receive better treatment than the ranking shows.
