The statistics in this chapter relate to a number of aspects of health in Ireland. The sources of the data are the System of Health Accounts 2017 release and a series of HSE Funded releases.
| Table 4.1 Current Health Expenditure in Ireland, 2012 to 2017 | ||||||
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
| Current health expenditure (€bn) | 18.75 | 18.51 | 18.85 | 19.25 | 20.17 | 21.13 |
| Current health expenditure % GDP | 10.7% | 10.3% | 9.7% | 7.3% | 7.4% | 7.2% |
| Current health expenditure % GNI* | 14.8% | 13.5% | 12.7% | 11.9% | 11.5% | 11.7% |
| Source: CSO | ||||||
| Fig 1: Ireland's Health Care Expenditure by Financing Scheme, 2017 | |
| Government | 73.3 |
| Voluntary Health Care Payments | 14.4 |
| Household Out-of-Pocket | 12.3 |
Ireland's current health expenditure was €21.1 billion in 2017, which represents 7.2% of GDP or 11.7% of GNI*. Overall there was a 5% increase in health expenditure in Ireland between 2016 and 2017. Health expenditure has increased by 13% since 2012.
The majority of health expenditure (73%) was funded by government, with the balance funded by private sources including voluntary health care payments (14%) and household out-of-pocket expenditure (12%).
Interactive tables: StatBank link
Link to release: System of Health Accounts
| Table 4.2 HSE Funded Pharmacy Costs and Claims 2013 to 2016 | ||||
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | |
| Pharmacy costs (‘000) | €1,141,106 | €1,059,259 | €1,020,389 | €1,002,160 |
| Number of pharmacy claims | 19,054,171 | 18,571,492 | 18,664,608 | 18,990,442 |
| Average cost per claim | €60.75 | €57.78 | €55.26 | €53.29 |
| Source: CSO | ||||
Expenditure on Health Service Executive (HSE) refunded pharmacy claims under the General Medical Scheme (GMS) amounted to just over €1 billion in 2016. This is a decrease of 12% on 2013 levels, despite the number of pharmacy claims staying relatively static over the same period (a marginal fall of only 0.3% to 18.99 million claims in 2016). The decrease in pharmacy cost was largely driven by a fall in the average cost per pharmacy claim of 12.3% - from €60.75 in 2013 to €53.29 per pharmacy claim in 2016.
Interactive tables: Statbank link
Link to release: HSE Funded Pharmacy Claims
| Year | Pharmacy cost | Number of pharmacy claims | Average cost per claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 2014 | 92.83 | 97.48 | 95.11 |
| 2015 | 89.42 | 97.95 | 90.96 |
| 2016 | 87.82 | 99.69 | 87.72 |
| Table 4.3 GMS Patients and Corresponding GP Claim Costs, 2013-2017 | |||||
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
| GP costs | €293.8m | €281.2m | €302.6m | €345.1m | €311.5m |
| Number of patients (‘000) | 2,116 | 2,109 | 2,316 | 2,343 | 2,329 |
| Number of GPs | 2,413 | 2,542 | 2,695 | 2,858 | 3,005 |
| Average number of patients per GP | 877 | 830 | 859 | 820 | 775 |
| Average annual refund per GP | €121,700 | €110,600 | €112,300 | €120,700 | €103,700 |
| Source: CSO | |||||
The overall cost of GP claims increased by 6% while the number of General Medical Scheme (GMS) patients treated increased by 10% between 2013-2017. These increases were likely driven by the introduction of the "Under 6s GP Visit Cards" which came into effect July 1st 2015. GMS patients were treated by 2,413 GPs in 2013. The number of GPs treating under the GMS scheme increased to 3,005 in 2017.
Interactive tables: Statbank link
Link to release: HSE Funded GP Claims
| Number of Patients | |
| 2013 | 2115.7 |
| 2014 | 2109.2 |
| 2015 | 2315.6 |
| 2016 | 2343.3 |
| 2017 | 2329.2 |
| Table 4.4 Optical Treatments and Corresponding Costs, 2015-2017 | |||
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
| Number of treatments ('000s) | 769.7 | 785.6 | 699.9 |
| Treatment costs | €29.7m | €30.4m | €27.2m |
| Average cost per treatment | €38.57 | €38.66 | €38.78 |
| Source: CSO | |||
The number of Optical treatments fell from 769,700 to 699,900 between 2015-2017. This is a 9% reduction in the number of treatments.
Interactive tables: Statbank link
Link to release: HSE Funded Optical Treatments
| Number of Treatments ('000s) | |
| 2015 | 769.7 |
| 2016 | 785.6 |
| 2017 | 699.9 |
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