* OECD countries: X = current health expenditure (CHE) as % of GDP (2022), Y = life expectancy at birth (2022). Data from OECD Health Statistics / *Health at a Glance 2023*.
* United States (total): CHE%GDP (2022) and life expectancy 76.1 years (2021, NCHS) shown as a separate star marker.
* U.S. states: X = personal health care (PHC) expenditures per capita (CMS State Health Expenditure Accounts, 2020) divided by state GDP per capita (BEA, 2020), shown as PHC%GSP. Y = state life expectancy at birth (2021, NCHS State Life Tables).
**Key caveat**
* OECD points (and US total) use **CHE%GDP** (full current health spending).
* U.S. states use **PHC%GSP**, which covers personal health care only and excludes some components in CHE. State vs country spending levels are therefore not 1:1 comparable, but all definitions are applied consistently within each group.
**Years**
* States: spending 2020, life expectancy 2021.
* US total: spending 2022, life expectancy 2021.
* OECD countries: spending and life expectancy 2022 (or nearest in the OECD tables).
**Sources**
* OECD Health Statistics / *Health at a Glance 2023* (`https://www.oecd.org/health/health-data.htm`)
* CMS State Health Expenditure Accounts (`https://www.cms.gov/data-research/statistics-trends-and-reports/national-health-expenditure-data`)
* BEA GDP by State (`https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gdp-state`)
* NCHS life expectancy & state life tables (`https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/`)
**Tools**
* Figure created in Python using `pandas` and `matplotlib` from the above sources only, with all points computed directly from published values or simple ratios.
lucianw on
I believe that every “life expectancy at birth” chart is dominated by (1) how much effort the healthcare system puts into saving the lives of challenging deliveries e.g. premature births, (2) how good the healthcare system is at supporting mothers and babies during the first months.
Which is fair enough! But when most people read a chart with the title “life expectancy” their mind jumps to thoughts about old people, not babies, so it can feel misleading.
I’d love to see you do this chart but for life expectancy for 10yo children, say. Or 20yo adults.
TheFeshy on
Clean, easy to read chart (saving perhaps some font size and color issues?) Well-cited sources? Detailed methods? This is the sort of post we need more of!
3 Comments
**Data & Methods**
* OECD countries: X = current health expenditure (CHE) as % of GDP (2022), Y = life expectancy at birth (2022). Data from OECD Health Statistics / *Health at a Glance 2023*.
* United States (total): CHE%GDP (2022) and life expectancy 76.1 years (2021, NCHS) shown as a separate star marker.
* U.S. states: X = personal health care (PHC) expenditures per capita (CMS State Health Expenditure Accounts, 2020) divided by state GDP per capita (BEA, 2020), shown as PHC%GSP. Y = state life expectancy at birth (2021, NCHS State Life Tables).
**Key caveat**
* OECD points (and US total) use **CHE%GDP** (full current health spending).
* U.S. states use **PHC%GSP**, which covers personal health care only and excludes some components in CHE. State vs country spending levels are therefore not 1:1 comparable, but all definitions are applied consistently within each group.
**Years**
* States: spending 2020, life expectancy 2021.
* US total: spending 2022, life expectancy 2021.
* OECD countries: spending and life expectancy 2022 (or nearest in the OECD tables).
**Sources**
* OECD Health Statistics / *Health at a Glance 2023* (`https://www.oecd.org/health/health-data.htm`)
* CMS State Health Expenditure Accounts (`https://www.cms.gov/data-research/statistics-trends-and-reports/national-health-expenditure-data`)
* BEA GDP by State (`https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gdp-state`)
* NCHS life expectancy & state life tables (`https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/`)
**Tools**
* Figure created in Python using `pandas` and `matplotlib` from the above sources only, with all points computed directly from published values or simple ratios.
I believe that every “life expectancy at birth” chart is dominated by (1) how much effort the healthcare system puts into saving the lives of challenging deliveries e.g. premature births, (2) how good the healthcare system is at supporting mothers and babies during the first months.
Which is fair enough! But when most people read a chart with the title “life expectancy” their mind jumps to thoughts about old people, not babies, so it can feel misleading.
I’d love to see you do this chart but for life expectancy for 10yo children, say. Or 20yo adults.
Clean, easy to read chart (saving perhaps some font size and color issues?) Well-cited sources? Detailed methods? This is the sort of post we need more of!