Which Countries Have The Best Healthcare In The World?

Whether you’re moving abroad as an expat for the first time, trying your hand at being a digital nomad or you’ve been living overseas for a while, it’s important to think about the quality of healthcare in the country (or countries) you’re living in.

In this article, we’ve looked for the best countries worldwide for healthcare. If you’re considering moving abroad, make sure you’ve thought about international health insurance – not only could it help to cover your medical bills around the world, it can also offer you access to private healthcare abroad, helping you get access to the care that’s right for you.

What makes a good healthcare system?
Which countries have the best healthcare in the world?
The top 10 countries with the best healthcare systems in the world
How we ranked countries with the best healthcare

Team of healthcare professionals talking and shaking hands in hospital

What makes a good healthcare system?

The best healthcare system in the world is not necessarily the one that costs the most to run. While funding healthcare is important to help patients avoid out-of-pocket expenses, there are many other elements that make a country’s healthcare system good.

These include waiting times for treatment, access to medical specialists and overall patient outcomes. Preventive health measures are also important, and include things such as routine vaccinations, mental health programs, and heart disease and cancer screening.

More recently, people have started to look beyond the best healthcare rankings and instead pay closer attention to other metrics when assessing a country’s healthcare system success, such as how well it uses technology and artificial intelligence to improve healthcare outcomes for its people.

Which countries have the best healthcare in the world?

There isn’t a single globally accepted ranking of the world’s best healthcare systems. Different organisations assess healthcare using different methodologies, measuring factors such as:

Health outcomes
Access to care
Quality
Efficiency
Patient experience

Rather than relying on one ranking, this guide highlights countries that consistently perform well across multiple recognised measures.

These metrics can vary significantly between countries, with some healthcare systems facing challenges such as underfunding, staff shortages and limited access to care, while others consistently rank among the best in the world.

Where are countries spending on healthcare?

Many governments are now fully invested in prioritising healthcare and, as such, the quality of global healthcare is fast improving.

Currently, global healthcare spending is around 9.3% for OECD countries, which is around US$6,000 per capita. This is down from the all-time high reached during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The major themes for healthcare are:

The implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) into diagnostics, helping healthcare professionals to recognise and treat diseases earlier and with better efficacy rates.
The rise of virtual healthcare assistants, also powered by AI, offering better access to healthcare to people less able to reach a GP or hospital.
Improved elderly care, supported by new advances in the fields of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s research.
Improved mental health prevention and care.

How we ranked countries with the best healthcare

Methodology

Rather than relying on a single index, we considered the factors most commonly used to assess healthcare quality, alongside countries that consistently perform well across internationally recognised healthcare rankings and research.

Healthcare rankings typically consider a range of indicators, including:

Life expectancy
Access to and quality of healthcare, including the cost to the patient, the number of hospitals and health professionals per person, and the availability of quality equipment
Behavioural risk factors including smoking, drinking and obesity
Preventative health interventions including vaccination programs
Survival rates after cancer, strokes and heart attacks
Mental health – a rising priority for many countries

Together, these factors provide a broader picture of the quality and accessibility of healthcare in each country.

Find out whether it’s better to visit private hospitals or use the public healthcare system in your new home. You can often do this through your embassy or consulate or you can reach out to other expats in the community for recommendations. Also, make sure that you are aware of how the emergency medical services function in the country that you are moving to.

Inez Cooper

Founder & Managing Director at William Russell

Not all countries can make the list of the best

Which countries have the worst healthcare?

Singapore has some of the best healthcare in the world

Singapore consistently ranks as one of the countries with the best healthcare in the world // GETTY

The top 10 countries with the best healthcare systems in the world

When considering the healthcare system according to some the factors outlined above, these are the top 10 countries for healthcare in the world:

1/ Singapore

Singapore consistently ranks as one of the countries with the best healthcare in the world. Singapore’s healthcare system is widely regarded as one of the most forward-thinking of all time, emphasising complete health and well-being for its population of 6.1 million.

The healthcare system in Singapore

Despite being a small country, Singapore boasts 11 state hospitals and 9 private hospitals. Additionally, Singapore’s General Hospital was named the ninth best hospital in the world in 2025.

In 2024, Singapore had 2.9 doctors per 1,000 people which is above the World Health Organization’s benchmark of 2.3 doctors per 1,000 people. Singapore also had 8.3 nurses per 1,000 people in 2024. Life expectancy in Singapore is the one of the highest in the world, averaging at an impressive 83.5 years.

Singapore’s healthcare success is widely attributed to its universal healthcare system paid for by its innovative ‘3Ms’ system:

MediShield Life is basic health coverage that provides citizens with coverage against large hospitals for major illnesses. Overall, 31% of Singapore residents are covered by MediShield Life only, while 69% also hold Integrated Shield Plans – a private option designed to supplement the government offering.
MediSave is a compulsory program. It covers citizens for out-of-pocket expenses and is paid for out of income tax, usually amounting to around 8–10.5%.
MediFund is an additional safety net designed to help Singaporeans who are unable to afford healthcare through MediShield and MediSave. There is also MediFund Silver for older citizens and MediFund Junior for children but these are only open to Singapore citizens.

Another factor contributing to Singapore’s position as one of the best countries in the world for healthcare is its emphasis on preventive healthcare. The government’s preventative healthcare program, known as Healthier SG, promotes healthy living and provides access to regular screening and testing, vaccinations and support around key health milestones.

And there is good news for equality across health care standards in Singapore. An IPSOS survey in 2025 found that 54% of respondents in Singapore agreed that “the healthcare system in my country provides the same standard of care to everyone,” – this is compared to a global average of 37%.

One thing to note, though, is that when it comes to mental health, Singapore is still catching up with other high-income countries. Things are improving in this area, however, since the government announced in 2024 that it would prioritise Singapore’s mental health care infrastructure, including more training for professionals.

Thinking about moving to Singapore?

Check out our complete guide on living in Singapore as an expat

2/ Japan

Japan is a regular entrant on the list of the best countries for healthcare. This is not by coincidence: Japan has prioritised healthcare by extending universal coverage to its citizens and offering the population a choice of provider.

The healthcare system in Japan

As one of the highest-ranked countries in the OECD (the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which is made of the world’s 38 most economically-developed countries), it is no surprise to find Japan outperforms the OECD averages in several key fields.

As well as having one of the highest life expectancies of any major country (84.1 years), Japan has the lowest rate of obesity, with less than 6% of the population being obese, compared to 43% in the US. Japan also performs well against the OECD’s key indicators for access to care and quality of care, with 80% of people saying they are satisfied with the availability of quality care.

According to IPSOS, people in Japan were globally the least likely to be worried about waiting times and access to treatment. Only 19% of respondents to the IPSOS 2025 study said this was a concern, compared to a global country average of 47%. And only 6% said they were concerned about bureaucracy in healthcare compared to a global country average of 23%. Japan also ranked lowest for levels of disappointment with its health system, out of 53 countries and territories.

In summary, Japan is consistently ranked as a top-performer in almost every field of healthcare, which is testament to its high rate of spending on health and wellbeing, its culture of sport and exercise, and its healthy diet. However, it is worth noting that suicide rates in Japan are higher than the OECD average, at 16 deaths per 100,000 people compared with 11 per 100,000 across OECD countries.

Could this be the perfect year to move to Japan?

Find out in our comprehensive guide to living in Japan

3/ South Korea

South Korea has earned its place on the list of the best countries in the world for healthcare thanks to incredible improvements to both access to, and quality of care throughout the country.

The healthcare system in South Korea

Firstly, South Korea has a high average life expectancy of 83.5 years. The country also boasts high rates of breast screening, and a low rate of preventable mortality at 106 per 100,000 deaths, compared to an average of 145. It also tops the list among OECD countries for the greatest number of hospital beds (12.6 per 1,000 people compared to the average of 4.2).

Healthcare challenges in South Korea

South Korea does fall short in a couple of areas. For instance, while South Koreans’ access to healthcare is among the best in the world, and paid for by contributions to the National Health Insurance Service, many people still find themselves paying out-of-pocket for medical expenses. Additionally, 53% said they were concerned about an aging population, compared to a global country average of 23%, according to an IPSOS survey in 2025.

Still, as a world-leader in terms of quality of healthcare technology and expertise of physicians, it is no wonder South Korea excels in one key metric: as many as 78% of people in the country say they are satisfied with their national healthcare scheme.

Did you know?

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4/ Taiwan

Taiwan has long been renowned for its quality of healthcare, which is characterised by short waiting times, high patient outcomes, great accessibility and widespread coverage. Taiwan is also ahead of the curve when it comes to utilising patient data to inform healthcare responses.

The healthcare system in Taiwan

Crucially, the country ranks consistently high across the three major metrics that define a healthcare system: quality of medical technology and physicians; individual cost; and government preparedness.

CEOWorld ranked Taiwan the best country in the world for healthcare in 2025. As part of this, it also praises Taiwan’s commitment to using new technologies and artificial intelligence to improve healthcare.

Taiwan doesn’t have to look far to find this technology. A thriving biotech industry on the island works hand-in-hand with the country’s leading healthcare sector to ensure Taiwanese physicians are on the cutting edge of medical advances. The big focus at the moment is on AI-assisted diagnostics and connected devices, as well as smart hospital infrastructure.

So, expats moving to Taiwan will find a country with a highly advanced healthcare service available to anyone across the country at an exceptionally low price.

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5/ Norway

Not only is Norway the sixth best country in the world to live as an expat, it also has one of the world’s best healthcare systems. Punching well above its weight in the global arena, Norway spends one of the largest amounts on healthcare in the OECD, and has an impressive average life expectancy of 83.3 years.

The healthcare system in Norway

Like its counterpart Sweden, Norway performs better than the OECD average on 10 out of 10 key indicators for access to care and quality of care. This includes overall satisfaction with availability of quality healthcare and number of patients surviving past 30 days after a stroke. Norway has also been declared the best country in the world for patient safety. However, it does not outrank other places across all metrics, for example there are fewer pharmacists per person in Norway than the OECD average.

That being said, Norwegians are a healthy group of people generally, with lower than OECD average rates of smoking, alcohol consumption and self-reported obesity.

Norway also features in our list of countries with the best mental health in the world – which is probably why you’ll often see Norway listed among the happiest countries in the world.

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6/ Iceland

Staying in the Nordics, another of the top 10 countries in the world for healthcare is Iceland. With its fresh clean air, healthy diet and government focus on promoting healthy lifestyles, anyone familiar with Iceland will not be surprised to see this tiny Scandinavian country make our top ten.

The healthcare system in Iceland

Among the island nation of Iceland’s many merits are that it has one of the highest life expectancies in the world at 83 years and an impressively low rate of daily smokers (5.6% compared to the OECD average of 14.8%).

When it comes to access to healthcare and quality of healthcare, Iceland scores well for 7 out of 10 key OECD indicators. Although there are fewer hospital beds than the OECD average in Iceland, there are more doctors and nurses per 1,000 people. To achieve these standards, Iceland spends 9% of its GDP on healthcare.

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7/ Sweden

Still in the Nordics, this time we head to Sweden, which sits comfortably in seventh. When it comes to access to care and quality of care, Sweden performs better than the OECD average on a whopping 10 out of 10 key indicators.

The healthcare system in Sweden

With an average life expectancy of 83.4 years, Sweden is similar to its neighbours Norway and Iceland. It also has one of the lowest lengths of hospital stays in Europe, at just 5.4 days, although this may be linked to the fact that Sweden has significantly fewer hospital beds than comparable countries.

Like the Norwegians, the Swedes are a healthy bunch, with the population boasting lower than OECD average rates of smoking, alcohol consumption and self-reported obesity. Also, significantly more people take enough regular exercise in Sweden compared to the average across OECD regions.

With a population of 10.6 million, Sweden has around 100 hospitals, which means that even people in remote parts of the country have access to high-quality healthcare. Where the Swedes really excel, however, is in the field of mental health – indeed, we named Sweden as the best country to live for mental health.

What happens if you live in a remote or isolated region?

Learn more about how to access healthcare in remote areas

8/ Switzerland

Switzerland is universally-renowned for its exceptional healthcare system, which contributes to it having one of the highest life expectancies in Europe at 84.3 years. However, while they are still very strong, life expectancy figures have been slightly slowing down in Switzerland in recent years.

The healthcare system in Switzerland

Switzerland is the second-highest spending country in the OECD when it comes to healthcare, behind the USA, and ranks near the top in a number of other key metrics.

For instance, Switzerland has more doctors than the OECD average (4.5 per 1000 people, compared to an average of 3.9) and significantly more nurses (18.8 per 1000 people compared to an average of 9.2). In addition, there are 72 CT scanners, MRI units and PET scanners per million population in Switzerland, compared to an OECD average of 51.

In true Swiss fashion, this exceptional level of quality commands a high price (11.8% of GDP) – still, the health outcomes in Switzerland speak for themselves, and certainly justify these costs. And happily, the World Health Organization predicts a significant increase in the number of Swiss people enjoying better health and wellbeing by 2050.

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9/ Netherlands

Another of the top 10 countries for healthcare is the Netherlands. The Dutch have a very good healthcare system that ranks consistently high in many major categories, with an enviable universal healthcare system. In order to achieve this, the Netherlands spends slightly more than average of its GDP on healthcare.

The healthcare system in the Netherlands

There are over 733 hospitals in the Netherlands serving a population of over 18 million. The country’s life expectancy as of 2026, was 81.9 years.

Interestingly, the Dutch are one of the lowest spenders on pharmaceuticals. This may have something to do with the fact the Netherlands is the pharmaceutical research and development epicentre for Europe, with a number of top companies based around the country, making prices cheaper.

And when medicine is needed? No problem. 87% of IPSOS survey respondents in the Netherlands said they found it easy to get access to a pharmacy in their local area, compared to a global country average of 78%.

Taking prescribed medication and preparing to move overseas?

Read our full guide on getting prescriptions abroad

10/ Spain

Spain rounds off our top 10 ranking thanks in part to its decentralised health system providing universal coverage to Spain’s 50 million population.

The healthcare system in Spain

Spain’s healthcare system is known for its efficiency and the fact that it’s universally available with little-no out-of-pocket costs to patients.

With a very impressive average life expectancy of 84 years, the Spanish live longer than many of their counterparts. There is also a widespread culture of sports and fitness, which makes it easy for anyone – including expats – to keep fit.

However, it is also worth noting that smoking and alcohol consumption is higher among the Spanish population than OECD averages and this does affect the numbers of deaths linked to behavioural risk.

There are still some challenges for Spain to overcome with regard to its healthcare, but great strides are being made in key areas including digitisation and recruiting more primary care staff.

Looking to start a new life in Spain?

Our guide explores everything you need to know as an expat in Spain

Frequently asked questions about countries with the best healthcare in the world

Which country has the best healthcare in the world?

There isn’t a single country universally recognised as having the best healthcare system in the world. Different organisations use different methodologies, so rankings vary.

However, countries including Switzerland, Singapore, Sweden, the Netherlands and Norway consistently perform well across multiple international healthcare rankings.

Which country is best for expat healthcare?

The best country for healthcare as an expat depends on more than healthcare quality alone. It’s also worth considering whether you’re eligible for public healthcare, the cost of private treatment, waiting times, the availability of English-speaking doctors and whether international health insurance is required or recommended.

Learn more about universal healthcare

Is healthcare free in countries with the best healthcare systems?

Not always. Some countries provide tax-funded public healthcare, while others rely on compulsory health insurance or a mix of public and private healthcare. Even where public healthcare is heavily subsidised, residents may still pay for certain treatments, prescriptions or insurance contributions.

Learn more about different types of healthcare systems

Do I need private health insurance if a country has excellent public healthcare?

A highly ranked healthcare system doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have free or immediate access to treatment. Expats may not qualify for public healthcare straight away, and private treatment can be expensive.

International health insurance can provide access to private healthcare and cover eligible treatment while you’re living abroad.

Learn more about the benefits of international health insurance

Does better healthcare mean people live longer?

Healthcare quality is an important factor, but it’s not the only one. Life expectancy is also influenced by diet, exercise, income, education, environmental factors and public health initiatives. That’s why countries with excellent healthcare don’t always have the highest life expectancy.

Discover the best countries for living a long and healthy life

Different countries have different types of healthcare systems

We explain the major types of healthcare systems around the world

Thinking of moving abroad?

As the world becomes more mobile and healthcare keeps improving, there’s never been a better time to become an expat.

If the idea of navigating a foreign healthcare system worries you, rest assured you don’t need to move abroad alone. William Russell’s international health insurance is tailor-made for expats like you, helping you access the highest-quality medical treatments all over the world.

Learn more about how expat health insurance can benefit your life abroad, and get an online quote in under two minutes.

Terms & conditions apply to our insurance products and services. You can find full details of what our plans cover (and what they don’t cover) in our plan agreements.

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