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Figure 3.8
Hong Kong Public PHC expenditure and Private PHC expenditure
between 2016/17 and 2019/20

80% 75.1% 73.9%
70% 69.9% 66.2%
60%
50%
40% 33.8%
30.1%
30% 24.9% 26.1%
20%
10%
0%
2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20

Total Public PHC as a % of Total PHC
Total Private PHC as a % of Total PHC

Source: FHB, 2021a

Figure 3.9

Hong Kong Private PHC expenditure in 2019/20 compared to other
OECD countries in 2016/17

70% 66.20%
60% 55.50%
53.20% 51.40%
50% 49.90%
44.20% 42.40% 41.20%
40% 39.70% 37.30%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Hong Kong Hungary Switzerland Portugal Spain Lithuania Poland South Korea Estonia Iceland

Note: Hong Kong’s private PHC expenditure in 2019/20 was selected because it is the latest available, whilst the latest
available data of other OECD countries calculated using the Bauhinia method is only from 2016/17. Hong Kong’s
private PHC expenditure in 2016/17 is 75.1%, which is still higher than the other OECD countries presented in the
same year.
Sources: Bauhinia, 2019; FHB, 2021a

Our observations also suggest that the Hong Kong DHA needs to reconsider presenting
health expenditure data in a way that will facilitate better tracking of our PHC
expenditure with reference to established international standards, such as the WHO 2019
definition on PHC spending (Box 3.5). This will allow timely internal evaluation as well as
external references to ensure that developments in Hong Kong are aligned with global trends
towards improving primary care access.

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