[Travel] What a hospital stay will cost you in 196 countries around the world
If you are reading these lines, you may be preparing for a trip. But before you leave, it's a good idea to double-check your health cover. To convince you of this, we have compiled a list of hospital costs in 196 countries around the world. And you'll see that the bill can be very high in some countries!
Good to know
The data on this map comes from the World Health Organisation and Health Action International databases. All amounts are expressed in US dollars. The costs analysed include the standard costs of a day's hospitalisation (room, basic nursing care, food, basic medicines, etc.) but exclude the costs of specialist medical treatment or surgery. Finally, the data available do not necessarily reflect regional variations within certain large countries, which could affect the accuracy of the estimates.
You can find the full list in table form at the bottom of this page.
Luxembourg, Norway and Qatar are the 3 most expensive countries in the world for a day in hospital
For those who travel the world, Europe has some of the countries where the bill can be higher in case of a health problem. In fact, Luxembourg ($1,813), Norway ($1,343), Monaco ($1,051) and Switzerland ($882) are among the 5 countries where a day in hospital is the most expensive in the world. In the rest of the world, only Qatar (US$1,308) exceeds the US$1,000 barrier per hospital day. Many other European countries are also above $500 per hospital day, as are the United States ($642) and Canada ($594).
Source : WHO, Health Action International
Expert advice
Traveller's testimonial: Anna, a New Zealander, received a bill of $1.2 million after a fall from a mountain in 2022 in the United States
Unforeseen events are part and parcel of travelling, often fortunate but sometimes dramatic. Anna Parsons, a young New Zealander aged 21 at the time, was climbing in Yosemite Park in August 2022, just two days after landing in the United States. Victim of a terrible fall from a height of 24 metres, she was rescued with countless fractures: neck, spine, pelvis, ribs and feet. Transferred urgently to a Californian hospital, she eventually had to have her right foot amputated, while her stay in hospital continued for several days. The total bill: $1.2 million, of which only a fifth was covered by the private insurance taken out by the young woman before her departure, leading her family to open an online fund to cover the remaining costs.
Although extreme, this dramatic example illustrates the importance of checking the amount of cover you have before travelling abroad.
Zoom: the cost of an appendectomy can exceed $45,000 in Canada!
Among the most problematic health problems that can be encountered when travelling, appendicitis is probably at the top of the list. By aggregating data provided by insurance companies and national public health systems, we were able to compile the cost of an appendectomy in 16 of the world's most popular tourist destinations. The results show disparities of the order of 1 to 40 between a country like France ($1,128 on average for this operation) and the countries of North America (over $45,000 in Canada!). So it's in the interests of travellers to be well insured if they have a health problem abroad.
Source : Allianz, April International, MSH, IASFA, GHDC, Admin.ch
The US are the 17th most expensive country in the world in terms of hospital stays
Among the top 100 most expensive countries for a day in hospital, the US ranks 17th, with an average rate of $642. When something serious happens (a broken leg, appendicitis or malaria, for example), the hospital stay can often last much longer than a day. So travellers need to be fully aware of the costs they may incur in accessing health care, and take out insurance cover accordingly.
| Position | Countries | Average cost for 1 hospital day |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luxembourg | $1,813 |
| 2 | Norway | $1,343 |
| 3 | Qatar | $1,308 |
| 4 | Monaco | $1,051 |
| 5 | Switzerland | $882 |
| 6 | San Marino | $845 |
| 7 | Denmark | $809 |
| 8 | Ireland | $804 |
| 9 | United Arab Emirates | $727 |
| 10 | Netherlands | $711 |
| 11 | Sweden | $692 |
| 12 | Kuwait | $691 |
| 13 | Iceland | $689 |
| 14 | Finland | $664 |
| 15 | Austria | $653 |
| 16 | Australia | $646 |
| 17 | United States | $642 |
| 18 | Belgium | $612 |
| 19 | Canada | $594 |
| 20 | Singapore | $586 |
| 21 | Germany | $578 |
| 22 | France | $570 |
| 23 | United Kingdom | $565 |
| 24 | Brunei | $504 |
| 25 | Japan | $491 |
| 26 | Italy | $487 |
| 27 | Spain | $443 |
| 28 | Cyprus | $399 |
| 29 | Greece | $383 |
| 30 | Bahrain | $367 |
| 31 | New Zealand | $367 |
| 32 | Equatorial Guinea | $358 |
| 33 | Israel | $339 |
| 34 | Slovenia | $336 |
| 35 | Portugal | $287 |
| 36 | Oman | $268 |
| 37 | Malta | $265 |
| 38 | Czech Republic | $250 |
| 39 | Bahamas | $246 |
| 40 | Trinidad and Tobago | $237 |
| 41 | South Korea | $235 |
| 42 | Saudi Arabia | $224 |
| 43 | Andorra | $218 |
| 44 | Slovakia | $207 |
| 45 | Estonia | $206 |
| 46 | Croatia | $182 |
| 47 | Hungary | $180 |
| 48 | Barbados | $171 |
| 49 | Latvia | $169 |
| 50 | Libya | $169 |
| 51 | Lithuania | $163 |
| 52 | Antigua and Barbuda | $162 |
| 53 | Poland | $157 |
| 54 | Russia | $138 |
| 55 | Seychelles | $129 |
| 56 | Saint Kitts and Nevis | $122 |
| 57 | Venezuela | $117 |
| 58 | Niue | $113 |
| 59 | Turkey | $111 |
| 60 | Chile | $110 |
| 61 | Mexico | $110 |
| 62 | Gabon | $109 |
| 63 | Romania | $105 |
| 64 | Uruguay | $98 |
| 65 | Argentina | $89 |
| 66 | Kazakhstan | $89 |
| 67 | Malaysia | $89 |
| 68 | Palau | $88 |
| 69 | Cook Islands | $83 |
| 70 | Montenegro | $78 |
| 71 | Mauritius | $77 |
| 72 | Botswana | $75 |
| 73 | Lebanon | $74 |
| 74 | Bulgaria | $73 |
| 75 | Panama | $72 |
| 76 | Costa Rica | $68 |
| 77 | Belarus | $66 |
| 78 | Grenada | $65 |
| 79 | Saint Lucia | $58 |
| 80 | Azerbaijan | $56 |
| 81 | Dominica | $56 |
| 82 | South Africa | $56 |
| 83 | Suriname | $56 |
| 84 | Colombia | $53 |
| 85 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | $53 |
| 86 | Jamaica | $52 |
| 87 | Algeria | $50 |
| 88 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | $50 |
| 89 | Serbia | $50 |
| 90 | Macedonia | $50 |
| 91 | Cuba | $48 |
| 92 | Iran | $47 |
| 93 | Dominican Republic | $44 |
| 94 | Peru | $44 |
| 95 | Belize | $43 |
| 96 | Albania | $40 |
| 97 | Angola | $40 |
| 98 | Ecuador | $39 |
| 99 | Namibia | $39 |
| 100 | Thailand | $39 |
Methodology
The aim of this study is to compare hospital charges in 196 countries around the world. The main sources of data for this analysis are the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Health Action International (HAI). These sources were chosen because of the quality and availability of the data and their central role in providing global health statistics.
1. Data sources
Data were collected from several sources:
- World Health Organization (WHO): The WHO provides detailed data on health systems, hospital costs and health expenditure in countries through its annual reports and public databases. This information includes global and regional estimates, as well as country-specific data.
- Health Action International (HAI): HAI provides information on the costs of medical services, including hospital charges, through its research into access to healthcare in different regions.
Appendectomy costs were collected from the websites of international insurers (notably Allianz and April International) as well as from data made available by the health systems of the countries mentioned.
2. Inclusion and exclusion criteria
The countries included in this study are the 196 internationally recognised states. Data were collected for public hospitals and, as far as possible, for private hospitals. However, in cases where private sector data were not available or accessible, the study focused on public sector costs. The costs analysed include the standard costs of a day's hospitalisation (room, basic nursing care, food, basic medicines, etc.) but exclude the costs of specialist medical treatment or surgery.
3. Data analysis
The analysis was conducted using descriptive statistical methods to identify the means, medians and standard deviations of hospitalisation costs by region and by country income category. Comparative analyses between geographic regions and income groups were performed to identify general trends and notable differences.
4. Limitations of the study
Finally, the data available does not necessarily reflect regional variations within certain large countries, which could affect the accuracy of the estimates.
The study is limited by the uneven availability of data between countries. In some regions, data on hospital costs are scarce or non-existent, which necessitated estimates.
Differences in the quality of hospital services and infrastructure between and within countries have not been fully taken into account in this study.
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