Healthcare Expenditure
- BC healthcare expenditures have outpaced the Canadian Consumer Price Index (CPI)
- The expenditures are 65% higher than in 2011
- The 2020 COVID-19 outbreak caused the sharpest year-over-year increase in 10 years: 16.2%
- Expenditures more than doubled in 2018, pre-COVID, from 3.8% to 7.9%, then doubling again to 16.2% in 2020, finally subsiding to 13.9% in 2021
- BC spent 40.3% of all provincial revenues on healthcare by the end of 2021
- Current growth rates predict an unsustainable spending portion directed towards provincial healthcare
Population Data
- Over the last 20 years, BC has seen an increase of 27.9%
- The median age has simultaneously increased by 11.6%, from 37.9 in 2001 to 42.3 in 2021
- The 60+ age bracket has grown the most during this period, by more than 112%
- A growing and aging population will directly increase healthcare expenditures, requiring greater portions of provincial revenue
- Will British Columbians be able to sustain this level of spending?
Source: 2010-2021 British Columbia Public Accounts
