DATABANK
Health spending slows For the first time in decades, health spending has not increased in real terms on average across OECD countries. According to figures published in the latest OECD health data 2012, the growth in health spending in 2010 slowed or turned negative in almost all OECD countries. Since the global economic crisis took hold in 2008, health spending has stalled in many OECD countries after years of continuous growth; and preliminary figures for some countries suggest that this slowdown continued in 2011. The average growth rate in health spending of 0.0% in 2010 compares with 4.3% in 2009 and an annual average growth of 4.8% over the period 2000–2008, when health spending outpaced economic growth and accounted for an increasing share of GDP.
Health expenditure
Real annual average growth rates since 2000 %
7.0 6.0 5.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 0 -1.0 2001
2002
2003
2004
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Public
While government tended to maintain health spending in the immediate wake of the economic slowdown–even in some of the hardest-hit countries–cuts really began to take effect in 2010. Growth in public spending on health averaged -0.5% in 2010 compared with 5.1% in 2009. In a number of European countries,
Restart-up? Start-up rates in OECD countries are slowly edging back to their pre-crisis levels, but not all countries have seen significant acceleration in new businesses, according to Entrepreneurship at a Glance 2012.
2005
Total
Source: OECD health data 2012
overall health spending reversed in 2010 as drastic measures to cut public spending were put in place. At the same time health spending still managed to grow by around 3% in the US, Canada and New Zealand but by more than 8% in Korea. See www.oecd.org/health
New start ups
Number of new enterprises, 2006=100 120 100 80
New data on enterprise creations and bankruptcies show the major impact that the economic and financial crisis has had on entrepreneurial activity. Start-up rates fell sharply from mid-2008 in all OECD countries where data are available. Momentum slowed again in early-2011 in most countries but has since shown tentative signs of a pick-up. France has shown the most spectacular increase in new businesses, due to introduction of a simplified start-up procedure or the régime de l’autoentrepreneur. Australia and the UK have reported robust growth in business creation in late-2011 and Norway has grown steadily, but the number of newly created enterprises remains below its pre-crisis level in most countries surveyed. 40
60 40 20 0 Australia
Denmark
Q2 2007 Source: OECD Entrepreneurship at a Glance 2012
UK
US
Spain
Germany
Q2 2011 For more countries, see http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932596669
The number of bankruptcy procedures, which increased considerably across the OECD area over the 2008–09 period, hovered above pre-crisis levels in most countries in 2011. Men are more likely to run businesses with employees in every country studied.
Typically, around 2% of employed women own a business and employ others. The corresponding percentage for men is more than double that in most countries. See www.oecd.org/statistics/ entrepreneurshipindicators