Total health expenditure as a share of GDP Philippines 2014-2023

The total health expenditure accounted for 5.9 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the Philippines in 2023. Since 2014, spending on human health has been stable, remaining between four and five percent of the GDP until 2021, when it reached 6.4 percent of the country's GDP. 

Health status of the aging population

The Philippines was home to an estimated 113 million inhabitants in 2023. Along with the year-on-year increase in population came the need for broader healthcare services, especially for senior citizens who are at a higher risk of illnesses and diseases. In 2019, about seven percent of the aging population aged 60 years and older experienced a heart attack.  

One of the leading health conditions diagnosed among the aging population was high blood pressure, arthritis, neuralgia, or rheumatism. Around 50 percent of women were diagnosed with high blood pressure, while 38.4 percent of men were diagnosed.   

Health care protection

With the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act enacted in 2019, more Filipinos can now have access to a government-subsidized public health insurance. The implementation of the program is under the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), alongside other related agencies. As of 2023, there were roughly 62 million registered members, the majority of whom were private employees.