Health and care costs rise 3%, but spending on refugees falls

Total spending on healthcare and welfare services in the Netherlands rose 3.1% to €100bn last year, the highest rise since 2010, the national statistics office CBS said on Friday.

The total bill is based on what the government, insurance companies and private individuals spend on care – a broad definition ranging from hospitals and residential nursing homes to childcare and refugee centres.

In total, care services cost €5,805 per person last year of which 83% is financed by insurance and government contributions. Private households pick up 10.8% of the total bill.

As a proportion of GDP healthcare spending actually fell to 12.9%, as economic growth outstripped the rise in care costs, the CBS said.

The biggest rise was in the cost of childcare, while spending on refugee services fell 14.5% as the number of new arrivals fell.

Calculated according to international guidelines, and excluding the cost of welfare and childcare services, spending on healthcare reached just under €77bn, or 9.9% of GDP.

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