Japan's spending on healthcare is rising rapidly, reflecting the country's ageing population, and stood at an estimated 104% of GDP in 2014, based on OECD definitions. However, this is still below the US (17%), France (11.8%), Germany (11.3%) and Canada (11%), but above the UK (9.7%) and Italy (9.5%). Japan's total healthcare spending reached an estimated US$479bn in 2014, making it the third-largest spender on healthcare in the world, after the US and China.
The rapid ageing of the country's population is taking a toll on public finances: the rise in spending on healthcare will continue to outstrip GDP growth in the forecast period, exerting further pressure on both the budget deficit and the national debt. Following the re-election of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the December 2014 general election, efforts to reform the healthcare system will be renewed. The LDP firmly believes that the healthcare sector could be an important engine of economic growth.
Total spending on healthcare is expected to rise by an average of 2.7% a year in local-currency terms in 2015-19, reaching 10.6% of GDP by 2019. Healthcare expenditure in US-dollar terms fell by an estimated total of 21.6% in the two-year period 2013-14. owing to the sharp fell in the value of the yen; after a further fell in 2015, healthcare expenditure is forecast to grow by 3.7% a year on average in 2016-19.

Healthcare report 2

Healthcare spending 2

Healthcare provision 5

Pharma and biotech 6

Disease trends 10

Industry publishing schedule 14

中国科学技术信息研究所