Band 6+: 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. You should write at least 150 words. * GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is the total value of goods that are made and services that are provided in a country.

The bar chart provides data on the health expenses in twelve european countries over 3 different years, five years apart, from 2002 to 2012.

Overall, whathever the country, the percentage of health expenditure did’nt fluctuated much during the period. For instance, France seems to have the bigger increase over the decade, with 2% more spending.

In 2002, Switzerland had the higher percent of expenditures from all countries, at 11%, a figure it has consistently maintained during ten years. However, whereas France spent 9% of the total in health in 2002, it has faced a slightly increase of 2% in the next five years, reaching the score of Switzerland. After that, the health expenditure of France have fallen of 1% until 2012.

In the opposite, Estonia spent the least over the decade, with a constant percentage of 3% of the total.

To conclude, it is worth noting that few countries have encountered a fluctuation over the period. If so, all the countries involved, except for France, have managed to stabilize the next years after.