Dutch health care cost 33 billion euros in 2000

According to a preliminary estimate, health care in the Netherlands cost 33 billion euros in 2000, 6.1% more than in 1999.

At the start of the nineteen-nineties, health costs increased at a rate of 7 to 8% yearly. This rate of increase subsequently fell to around 4% in the years 1993 to 1997. Since 1998 it has been rising again: in 1998 costs rose by 6.4% and in 1999 by 5.5%.

Intramural care – which includes hospital care – cost 15.4 billion euros, accounting for nearly half of the total costs. Extramural care came in second with 13.6 billion euros, while another 2.3 billion euros was spent on mental health care.

Health care costs, 2000

The costs for all categories of health care increased by relatively the same amount, with the exception of extramural institutions, which include home care, working conditions inspectorates, municipal health departments and ambulance services. The costs for home care in particular rose by more than average in 2000.

Provisional figures put the Dutch gross domestic product (GDP) 7.1% up in the first nine months of last year. The costs of health care rose by 6.1%, pushing their share in GDP down from 8.3% in 1999 to 8.2% in 2000.

Share of health care costs in GDP

Jan Smit