_Saudi healthcare sector placed on a fast growth trajectory
Healthcare is one of the focus areas of Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Plan (NTP). The main goal is to diversify the economy away from hydrocarbons and trigger a greater participation of the private sector by encouraging both local and international investments in a number of key sectors, one of which is healthcare.
رمضان 14, 1439
With the aim of increasing the private sector’s GDP contribution from 40% to 65% by 2030, privatisation of government services will help meet these goals. Under the NTP, the Kingdom’s healthcare plan has placed the sector on a fast trajectory to privatisation and growth
Targets set out by the NTP include:
- Increasing private healthcare expenditure from 25% to 35% of total healthcare expenditure.
- Increasing the number of licensed medical facilities from 40 to 100.
- Increasing the number of internationally accredited hospitals.
- Doubling the number of primary healthcare visits per capita from two to four.
- Doubling the percentage of patients who receive healthcare after critical care and long-term hospitalisation, within 4 weeks from 25% to 50%.
"From a public finance perspective, healthcare remains the third largest area of government spending following military and education, accounting for 15% of total expenditures in the 2018 announced budget."
In parallel with a shift towards a greater participation of the private sector, healthcare is expected to remain a key area of government spending in this transition phase. The allocated budget for healthcare under the NTP stands at SAR 23 billion, which is the fourth largest area of spending under the NTP.