The conclusion is in the 2025 “Health Panorama” reportpublished this Thursday by OECD, organization made up of 38 member countries and which provides data on the health of the population and the performance of the sector.
The conclusion is in the 2025 “Health Panorama” reportpublished this Thursday by the organization made up of 38 member countries and which provides data on the health of the population and the performance of the sector.
The document highlights that Portugal performs better than the OECD average in five of the 10 main indicators that measure access and quality of care.
Access to a basic set of services
In Portugal, the entire population has access to a basic set of servicesbut only 58% were satisfied with the availability of quality healthcare, says the report, pointing out that 2.4% of the population expressed unmet healthcare needs, lower than the OECD average of 3.4%.
Regarding the quality of care, the document states that 99% of one-year-old children were vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough in Portugal, a percentage higher than the OECD average, and 56% of Portuguese women underwent breast cancer screening, a percentage similar to the average of 55%.
In the country, there were 236 avoidable hospitalizations per 100,000 inhabitantsless than the cross-country average of 473, while 30-day mortality after an acute myocardial infarction was 7.1% (OECD average 6.5%) and 9.3% after a stroke (7.7%).
Regarding health system resources, the report indicates that Portugal spends 5,212 dollars (about 4,500 euros) per capita in healthcareless than the OECD average of 5,967 dollars (5,151 euros), which is equivalent to 10.2% of GDP.
In 2024, OECD countries spent 9.3% of their GDP on health, a figure lower than the peak reached during Covid-19, but higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Projections point to a growth of 1.5 percentage points in public expenditure as a percentage of GDP by 2045, driven by technological changes, expectations regarding what healthcare can achieve and the aging of the population, says the report.
According to the data now released, there are 5.8 doctors per 1,000 inhabitants in Portugalabove the average of 3.9, as well as 7.6 nurses, below the average of 9.2 for all the countries analyzed. The OECD warns that Portugal’s numbers on doctors may be overestimated, as they include all those who are licensed and not just those who are practicing.
According to the organization, the health workforce is growing, with around one in nine jobs in health or social care, on average, in OECD countries.
Life expectancy in Portugal is 82.5 years
In Portugal, life expectancy is 82.5 years, 1.4 years above the OECD average. At a global level, life expectancy has recovered and is on an upward trajectory, standing at 81.1 years in OECD countries in 2023.
A preventable mortality was 117 per 100,000 inhabitants in Portugal, lower than the average of 145, with treatable mortality at 63 per 100,000 inhabitants, also lower than the average of 77.
A suicide rate was eight per 100,000 inhabitants in Portugal, compared to the OECD average of 11 deaths, and 12.1% of people classified their health as bad or very bad.
The prevalence of daily smoking in Portugal – 14.2% – is lower than the OECD’s 14.8%, but alcohol consumption is higher than the average, with 11.9 liters per capita in Portugal compared to 8.5.
More than half of Portuguese adults – 56% – did not do enough physical activitya percentage higher than the OECD average of 30%, and the prevalence of self-declared obesity was 16% in Portugal, lower than the OECD average of 19%.
