The Health Spending Observatory aims to provide ongoing analysis of health spending trends in Portugal. This policy brief examines the 2025 State Budget projections for the health sector. Public health expenditure is set to rise by 7.2% in nominal terms compared to the 2024 budget. Next year, public health spending will account for 13.3% of primary expenditure by Public Administrations. However, challenges remain despite the budgetary increases. These include under-execution of capital expenditure, payment delays to external NHS suppliers, and potential overruns in personnel expenditures. Notably, the 2025 State Budget lacks estimates of the financial impact of the proposed health sector measures. It also fails to address future expenses tied to Recovery and Resilience Plan investments, leaving uncertainties about the long-term budgetary pressures on the health sector.
š You can now download the report in Portuguese here.
This report is part of the Social Equity Initiative , a partnership between FundaciĆ³n ”la Caixa”, Banco BPI and Nova SBE.
Author of the study: Pedro Pita Barros and Carolina Borges da Cunha Santos.