NHS Expenditure

Over the past 50 years, real terms UK health expenditure has increased over five-fold. Rising from around £36 billion in 1972/73 to £212 billion in 2022/23. Real terms expenditure takes into account the impact of inflation on the purchasing power of a currency.

The average real terms annual expenditure increase over the period from 1972/73 to 2022/23 was 3.8%. Between 2000/01 and 2004/05 average annual spending growth was 8.7%, higher than at any other time in the history of the NHS.

Responsibility for health services is devolved to the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish administrations. In 2022/23, health expenditure per head was highest in Wales (£3,337 per head) and lowest in England (£3,064 per head).

This briefing covers NHS expenditure of the devolved administrations, the funding process of NHS England, as well as a breakdown of spending and spending during the Covid-19 pandemic.

More details on the commissioning role of ICBs and the organisation of the NHS in England can be found in the Library Briefing Paper: The Structure of the NHS in England.