The bar chart below shows current health expenditure totals as percentages of GDP* for various European countries for the years 2002, 2007 and 2012. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The bar chart depicts the

health

spending composite for 12 European

countries

as percentages of Gross Domestic Product over a ten-year period.

Overall

,

health

spending remained constant for almost half of European

countries

throughout the years

while

5

countries

experienced an increase and the rest experienced a decrease. In 2002, Switzerland spent around 11% of its GDP on

health

. The number

then

followed by Belgium and France with 10% each. In comparison, Estonia and Lithuania spent the least

for

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health

with only 4% and 5% of their GDP respectively. The remaining

countries

have

health

spending ranging from 6% to 9% of their GDP. 5 years later, there were not many changes except for France which experienced an increase in

health

spending by 1% compared to 2002.

On the other hand

, the Netherlands has seen a decrease in

health

spending of 1%. In 2012, Denmark, Lithuania, Norway, and Poland each raised their

health

spending by 1% from the previous 5 years.

In contrast

,

health

spending in France and Luxembourg was cut

off

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by 1%. The remainder showed no change.