Expenditures on health and welfare increased by 8.9 percent in 2024
Statistics Netherlands | CBS
Source published: 8 October 25
Expenditures on health and welfare increased by 8.9 percent in 2024
Expenditures on health and welfare have significantly increased in 2024. This impacts the entire sector.
In 2024, expenditures on health and welfare, including childcare, increased by 8.9 percent to 155 billion euros. These grew faster than the economy. As a percentage of gross domestic product, these expenditures rose from 13.5 percent in 2023 to 13.8 percent last year. This is reported by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) based on new preliminary figures.
Expenditures on youth care, shelter, and other welfare increased the most: from 23.6 billion in 2023 to 27.1 billion last year, an increase of 14.9 percent. This is partly due to higher costs for asylum seeker shelter and rising expenditures on youth care and childcare.
In the entire health and welfare sector, the number of full-time jobs in the last quarter of 2024 compared to the last quarter of 2023 grew by 2 percent, but in youth care and social work by 6 and 7 percent respectively.
The increase in expenditures is also largely due to higher service rates in this sector. Prices in the health and welfare industry rose by 6.4 percent in 2024.
Expenditures on health and welfare rise by 654 euros per person
In total, an average of 8,610 euros was spent on care per person in 2024. That is 654 euros more than the previous year. These expenditures are paid by the government, the Long-term Care Act (Wlz), the Health Insurance Act (Zvw), supplementary insurance, personal payments, companies, and contributions from abroad (for example, care for vacationers). Due to higher expenditures on youth care, shelter, and other welfare, the amount the government spends per person on health and welfare increased by 189 euros (10.3 percent compared to 2023). Average expenditures paid through the Zvw rose by 215 euros (7.0 percent), and expenditures from the Wlz increased by 174 euros (10.1 percent).
Within the Wlz expenditures for nursing and care, especially elderly care, home care is growing twice as fast as institutional care (20.1 percent compared to 9.8 percent in 2024). In absolute terms, expenditures for nursing and care in an institution are still about four times higher than those for home care.
Long-term Care Act
Health Insurance Act
Supplementary insurance, personal payments, companies, abroad
euros per person
Less strong increase in healthcare expenditures
Internationally, a narrower definition of healthcare is used. Based on the most recent estimate, these expenditures increased by 7.9 percent in 2024. Earlier this year, CBS wrote about this earlier this year. The components of health and welfare that are not included in the international figure increased in 2024 by 11.9 percent relative to the components that are included. The components that are not counted as healthcare in the international definition include welfare work, childcare, large parts of youth care, social shelter, and a portion of long-term care.
