Spending on preventive medicine in the European Union fell to 202 euros per capita in 2022, from 216 euros per capita in 2021, according to data published by Eurostat.
Among the member states, Germany allocates the most to preventive medicine, 458 euros per capita, followed by Austria (411 euros) and the Netherlands (312 euros).
At the opposite end of the scale, the member states that spend the least on preventive medicine are Poland (22 euros per capita) and Romania (24 euros per capita).
Also in 2022, preventive medicine expenditure accounted for 5.5% of total medical expenditure in the EU.
Eurostat stresses that this share reflects the impact of preventive healthcare measures activated in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which persisted in 2022.
As a result, preventive medicine expenditure increased from 2.9% in 2019, to 3.5% in 2020 and 6.1% in 2021.
The highest shares of preventive medicine expenditure were recorded in 2022 in Germany (7.9% of total medical expenditure), Austria (7.4%) and Finland (6.4%). The lowest shares were recorded in Malta (1.2%), Poland (1.9%), Slovakia (2%), Belgium (2.5%), Cyprus (2.54%), Latvia (2.80%) and Romania (2.84%).