Band 7+: 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 chart illustrates the money allocated to health expenditure as a percentage of GDP for various European countries for the years 2002, 2007 and 2012.

Overall, most of the European countries presented here spent around eight to ten per cent of GDP for health expenditure during this period. For the majority of them, the percentage allocated to health only fluctuated slightly and always by small increments.

In 2012, France observed a two percent drop, going from spending 11 percent of GDP for health expenditure to only nine percent, which is closer to what we would expect in 2012 seeing that the average for these countries was around eight percent this year.

Estonia is the country which allocated the smallest proportion of their money for health during every single year presented here. The number remained the same for the three years at only three percent.

The country which allocated the most to health expenditure during this period is Switzerland. Its rate did not fluctuate and was the highest of all countries with eleven percent spent each year since 2002.