Mauritania's current health expenditure (% of GDP) was 4.34% in 2023, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 1.48 percentage points from 2.87% in 2013.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 4.34% | 2023 |
| Five years earlier | 2.88% | 2018 |
| Ten years earlier | 2.87% | 2013 |
| Highest | 4.67% | 2022 |
| Lowest | 2.47% | 2011 |
| Average since 2014 | 3.55% | 2014–2023 |
| First recorded | 3.38% | 2000 |
What the numbers say
In 2023, Mauritania's current health expenditure (% of GDP) fell 0.33 percentage points on 2022 (from 4.67% to 4.34%).
Across the 22 yearly changes before that (2001 to 2022), the average change was +0.06 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.42 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.9 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 0.89 percentage points in 2022 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.7 percentage points in 2006. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2014 to 2023 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 28% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2023, Mauritania had the 122nd highest value of the 168 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Mauritania | 4.34% | 2023 |
| World | 10.06% | 2023 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 4.92% | 2023 |
| Lower middle income | 3.71% | 2023 |
Closest to Mauritania in the 2023 ranking
What this measures
Level of current health expenditure expressed as a percentage of GDP. Estimates of current health expenditures include healthcare goods and services consumed during each year. This indicator does not include capital health expenditures such as buildings, machinery, IT and stocks of vaccines for emergency or outbreaks.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 24 values
| Year | Current health expenditure (% of GDP) |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 4.34 |
| 2022 | 4.67 |
| 2021 | 3.78 |
| 2020 | 3 |
| 2019 | 3.09 |
| 2018 | 2.88 |
| 2017 | 3.42 |
| 2016 | 3.19 |
| 2015 | 3.67 |
| 2014 | 3.47 |
| 2013 |
Current health expenditure (% of GDP) in nearby economies
- Angola — 2.55% (2023)
- Benin — 3.34% (2023)
- Botswana — 6.26% (2023)
- Burkina Faso — 7.8% (2023)
- Burundi — 9.09% (2023)
- Cabo Verde — 5.85% (2023)
- Cameroon — 4.55% (2023)
- Central African Republic — 10.66% (2023)
- Chad — 5% (2023)
- Comoros — 6.55% (2023)
- Congo, Dem. Rep.
More health data for Mauritania
- Population ages 00-04, female (% of female population) — 15.12% (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male (% of male population) — 16.08% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, female — 1.11 million (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, female (% of female population) — 41.1% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male — 1.14 million (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male (% of male population) — 43.72% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, total — 2.25 million (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 (% of total population) — 42.38% (2025)
- Population ages 05-09, female (% of female population) — 13.69% (2025)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Mauritania's current health expenditure (% of GDP)?
- 4.34% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 2000?
- It is up 0.97 percentage points from 3.38% in 2000. The highest value was 4.67% in 2022 and the lowest 2.47% in 2011.
- How does Mauritania rank?
- 122nd highest of 168 economies with data for 2023.
- Is the latest change in current health expenditure (% of GDP) unusual for Mauritania?
- In 2023, Mauritania's current health expenditure (% of GDP) fell 0.33 percentage points on 2022 (from 4.67% to 4.34%). Across the 22 yearly changes before that (2001 to 2022), the average change was +0.06 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.42 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.9 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SH.XPD.CHEX.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Global Health Expenditure Database, updated December 12th, 2025, World Health Organization (WHO), uri: https://apps.who.int/nha/database Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.
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