The relationship between health expenditures and the age structure of the population in OECD countries

The purpose of this study was to analyse national health expenditures of OECD countries relative to their age structures. Using econometric techniques designed to analyse cross-sectional time series data, the ageing of the population was found to affect health spending in several countries while having no effect in others. In addition, the effect of income on health spending was lower than that generally reported in the literature. These findings suggest that unobserved country-specific factors play a major role in determining the amount of resources allocated to health services in a country. Such factors also determine if the ageing of the population with increased health spending.