Original scientific paper
Comparative analysis of health care financing in Croatia in relation to the EU member states
Sanja Pešić
orcid.org/0000-0001-5819-3202
; Faculty of Dental Medicine and Health, Osijek, Croatia
*
Mirko Pešić
; Faculty of Medicine Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to examine the financing of the Croatian healthcare system in comparison with the European Union average. The main indicators selected for analysis are total healthcare expenditure, per capita expenditure, and expenditure expressed as a share of GDP. The analysis is based on Eurostat data for the 27 EU member states covering the period from 2015 to 2022, and applies descriptive statistical methods, comparative analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA), the Tukey HSD post-hoc test, correlation analysis, and the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) analysis.
The findings indicate that Croatia falls below the EU average across all key indicators. Both total expenditure and per capita expenditure are considerably lower than the European average, as is the proportion of healthcare spending in GDP. The ANOVA results confirmed statistically significant differences between groups of countries, with Croatia classified among those with lower levels of healthcare expenditure. Although Croatia has recorded faster growth in healthcare spending than the EU average, it starts from a lower base, thereby maintaining the gap with more developed member states.
The results highlight the need for reforms aimed at improving the efficiency and sustainability of healthcare financing in Croatia.
Keywords
financing efficiency, health expenditure, health financing
Hrčak ID:
337362
URI
Publication date:
31.10.2025.
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