The health and wellbeing of a person are to some extent, determined by the level of healthcare in the place he or she resides. When a country has a good standard of healthcare, the citizens will enjoy good medical services and thus live healthy lives.
Today, I have compiled a list of the top 10 countries with the best healthcare in 2023. Let us get this useful knowledge, and see what we can learn from these countries.
First off, there are many ways or criteria used to rate the level of health care in a particular country. They may include the life expectancy, mortality rate, heart disease & cancer survival rate, and successful birth rate.
Others may take into account the healthcare facilities, equipment, healthcare professionals, or preventive care.
They are actually so many criteria used, but I don’t want to bore you with the details in all of them, I did the research for you. The most widely accepted method is the Health Care Index.
The Health Care Index is an estimation of the overall quality of the health care system, health care professionals equipment, staff, doctors, cost, and access to preventive care.
It is given on a scale of 0-100. This is basically what I used when compiling this list, but I also took into consideration, other factors like life expectancy, mortality rate, etc. So here it goes.
10. Finland – 77.11
The healthcare system in Finland is a publicly funded system that provides comprehensive medical services to all citizens.
The Finnish government is responsible for financing the healthcare system through taxes, and medical services are provided by both public and private healthcare providers.
The Finnish National Health Service (NHS) manages the public healthcare system and is responsible for overseeing the provision of medical services and ensuring that they are of high quality and accessible to everyone.
One of the achievements of Finland’s healthcare system is its high-quality medical care. The country has a well-educated and highly trained medical workforce, and its healthcare facilities are well equipped with modern medical technology.
In Finland, all citizens have the right to access medical services, regardless of their income or social status. This is ensured through a comprehensive network of healthcare services, which includes primary care, specialist care, and hospitals.
The Finnish government also provides financial support to those who are unable to afford medical services, and there are programs in place to help ensure that everyone has access to the care they need.
9. Netherlands – 77.16
The Netherland’s healthcare system is one of the most effective in the world.
The healthcare system in the Netherlands is a mix of public and private systems. Citizens are required by law to have basic health insurance which covers a range of services, including hospital treatment and GP visits.
This insurance is mostly funded by the government but citizens pay a premium based on their income. There is also a choice between different insurance providers which allows for competition and drives the quality of services offered.
The healthcare system in the Netherlands is known for its high quality and patient-centered approach
8. Austria – 77.20
Austria’s healthcare system provides publicly funded care, and to their citizens, they can also purchase supplementary private health insurance.
The health insurance system is funded through taxation from both employees and employers. Everyone with employment in Austria is required to pay into a public health insurance scheme.
As of 2015, the cost of healthcare in Austria was 11.2% of GDP – the fifth highest in Europe. Furthermore, tourists and visitors in the country have access to free healthcare services. They also have a high life expectancy rate and low mortality rate.
7. Thailand – 77.90
Thailand’s healthcare system is divided into three major components: the government health services, non-profit healthcare organizations (NGOs), and the private medical sector.
Thailand has a universal health care system ( In 2001, Thailand introduced the Universal Coverage Scheme, UCS) that provide health services to civil servants, private employees, and other citizens.
There is at least one major hospital in each province in Thailand and many in popular tourist destinations. Thailand also has a fair amount of English-speaking healthcare professionals.
6. Spain – 77.95
Spain has a health care index of 76.34, and that makes them one of the countries with the best healthcare system.
Like Denmark, Spain also spends 10 percent of its GDP on healthcare and impressively has a rate of four doctors per 1,000 citizens. Spanish healthcare consists of both private and public healthcare, which gives both primary and secondary healthcare to its citizens.
Spanish women have a life expectancy rate of 85.5, second only to Japan in the world. Furthermore, up to 98.7 percent of Spaniards are insured for Spanish healthcare.
5. Denmark – 79.20
Healthcare in Denmark is said to be one of the most effective in the world. The Danish healthcare system is largely provided by the local governments of the five regions, which are regulated by the central government.
Also, primary healthcare facilities like nursing homes, home care, and school health services are the coordinated by the 98 municipalities.
They also have effect medical emergency units and a fast ambulatory service. In Denmark there is a ratio of 1,000 people to 3.4 doctors and 2.5 hospital beds.
Another reason why Denmark has one if the best healthcare systems in the world is because of their extensive use of health care technology.
Almost all primary care physicians in Denmark have electronic medical records with full clinical functionality. The country also has an extensive vaccination coverage, and a life expectancy of 80.6 years in 2015.
4. France – 79.40
France was said to have “close to best overall health care” by WHO and they are right. In 2015, France’s healthcare expenditure amounted to 11.5% of GDP per capita.
That figure is higher than most European countries. The French government body is called ANAES, short for, Agence Nationale d’Accréditation et d’Evaluation en Santé (The National Agency for Accreditation and Health Care Evaluation).
They have very strict rules and guidelines for regulating healthcare in the country. Healthcare in France is a universal health care system mainly financed by the government’s national health insurance.
The French government also refunds patients 70% of most health care costs, and 100% sometimes, in cases of expensive treatment or long-term ailments. The country’s life expectancy is 82.8.
3. Japan – 80.30
Healthcare in Japan is of excellent quality. The healthcare system in Japan provides healthcare services to its citizens and covers 30% of the cost.
In Japan, all citizens are obligated to have health insurance coverage. They have one of the highest life expectancies in the world, very low infant mortality rates, and high illness recovery rates.
2. South Korea – 83.00
South Korea is the second-beat country with the best healthcare in 2022.
South Korea has a universal healthcare system that is said to be the most efficient healthcare system on earth. The Healthcare system in South Korea is controlled by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
The system is funded by a compulsory National Health Insurance Scheme that covers 97% of the population.
The number of hospital beds per 1000 population is 10. They have one of the highest life expectancy rates on earth and are the second country with the lowest obese people.
From 2006-2011, South Korea had the highest Colorectal hand Cervical cancer survival rate, with 72.8% and 76.8% respectively.
Indeed the healthcare system in South Korea is very efficient and effective.
1. Taiwan – 85.90
There is no doubt that Taiwan has the best health care in the world. Many people might not know this because Taiwan is not a member of the World Health Organization (WHO). In spite of this, the healthcare system in Taiwan stands out as one the most brilliant and effective in the world.
The current healthcare system in Taiwan is known as National Health Insurance. It is a mandatory social insurance plan which centralizes the spending of healthcare funds equally to every citizen. By 2004, this insurance coverage had reached over 99% of Taiwanese citizens.
The National health insurance in Taiwan is financed squarely through premiums, from the payroll tax, and is supplemented with out-of-pocket payments and direct funding by the government.
Or put it this way, the national health insurance program, works in a way in which everyone pays a share on a monthly basis to cover those who are sick. Additionally, only the smartest students in Taiwan are qualified to work as doctors.
The Health Insurance policy in Taiwan has been praised by many. Even Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics, Paul Krugman, in an article, cited Taiwan’s
National Health Insurance, as a useful reference for health insurance policymakers in the United States and all over the world. It is also noteworthy that Taiwan’s 14 major hospitals rank among the top 200 hospitals in the world.
Also, Taiwan tops the entire world with the highest five-year survival rate for liver transplants, surpassing even the United States, Japan, and South Korea.
I know I have a lot of readers from the United States of America, so it would great, and fair to also write where they rank in the world. The United States are ranked 35 in the list of countries with the best healthcare in the world in 2023, with a healthcare index of 69.03.
An surprising result in all means. I have never never heard or read about this. No asian country can beat healthcare from Europe, special the nordics with Sweden, Norway and Finland are top in any mean. Living in the middle east i hear a lot of health care tourists going to Europe but never heard that anyone is going to Asia for this
I stated the reason in the article. Taiwan is not recognized by WHO, but you can browse the internet and find out yourself
Thank you for sharing with us this formation , healthcare in the other country is very important but in africa healthcare is very bad.
What, you mean the United States doesn't rank in the top 10??? Sarcasm, of course. We have a long way to go in the USA to right our health care system.
Thanks for sharing, I`m not sure I agree with your rankings, I`m not being biased here but in Switzerland we have the best health care system.May be expensive(everything here is) but the health care system is tops.I`m saying this because I have been to some of the countries you mentioned, have also had to see docs in some of the countries you mentioned and I`m still convinced we have the best health care system.
Thank you for your honest opinion. The Healthcare Index actually determines the rating.