Japan's spending on healthcare is rising rapidly, reflecting its ageing population, and stood at an estimated 10.4% of GDP in 2013, based on OECD definitions. However, this is still below the US (16.9%), France (12.1%), Germany (11.3%) and Canada 11%), but more than in the UK (9.6%) and Italy (9%). Japan's total healthcare spending reached an estimated US$610bn in 2013, 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 in Japan will continue to outstrip GDP growth in the forecast period, exerting further pressure on both the budget deficit and the national debt. Renewed efforts to reform the healthcare system are being undertaken by the prime minister, Shinzo Abe of the Liberal Democratic Party, who sees the health sector as an engine of economic growth
Total spending on healthcare is expected to rise by an average of 3.1% a year in local-currency terms in 2014-18, reaching 10.6% of GDP by 2018. Healthcare expenditure in US-dollar terms fell by an estimated 16.7% in 2013, owing to the sharp fall in the value of the yen, but it is forecast to grow by 2.6% a year on average in 2014-18.

Healthcare report 2

Healthcare spending 2

Healthcare provision 5

Pharma and biotech 6

Disease trends 11

Industry publishing schedule 14

中国科学技术信息研究所