OECD Health at a Glance 2021

COVID‑19 contributed to 16% increase in expected number of deaths in 2020/1st half 2021 across OECD countries. Life expectancy fell in 24 of 30 countries with comparable data, with drops particularly large in US (‑1.6 years) and Spain (‑1.5 years).

SPS commentary:

Other findings were as follows:

  • Mental health impact of the pandemic has been huge, with prevalence of anxiety and depression more than double levels observed pre-crisis in most countries with available data, most notably in Mexico, UK and US.
  • COVID‑19 has also had a major indirect impact on people not infected with the virus, e.g. breast cancer screening fell by an average of 5% in 2020 compared to 2019, across OECD countries with available data. The median number of days on a waiting list increased on average by 58 days for hip replacement, and 88 days for knee replacement in 2020, as compared to 2019.
  • COVID-19 pandemic has led to a sharp increase in health spending across the OECD. Coupled with reductions in economic activity, the average health spending to GDP ratio jumped from 8.8% in 2019 to 9.7% in 2020, across OECD countries with available data. Countries severely affected by the pandemic reported unprecedented increases. UK estimated an increase from 10.2% in 2019 to 12.8% in 2020.
  • The pandemic highlights the persistent shortage of health workers stressing the importance of investing more in the years ahead on improving primary care and disease prevention and strengthen the resilience and preparedness of health systems.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)