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The public and private sectors are set to ramp up healthcare spending in the UAE amid economic diversification plans and rising demand, with public health expenditure forecast to grow at a 7.7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2022-2028, Fitch Solutions company BMI said in a report. Private health spending is expected to rise faster, at 9.3%.
ICYMI- The cabinet approved an AED 71.5 bn budget for the country in 2025 earlier this month — the largest in the UAE’s history, and setting out a 12% y-o-y increase in expenditure compared to 2024’s budget of AED 64.06 bn. Healthcare and community prevention services account for 8% of the final spending plan.
The growing healthcare budget signals “the increasing importance of the health sector for the country as it pursues non-oil economic diversification as part of its broader non-oil economic diversification efforts,” BMI said.
The UAE is set to have the second highest per capita healthcare spending among GCC countries by 2030, after Qatar, at around USD 3.3k per capita.
Demand for healthcare is up: The rollout of universal health ins. next year is expected to propel demand in the sector, particularly in the Northern Emirates, where health ins. was previously not mandatory, according to the report, alongside changing demographics, including a rising elderly population.
The move comes as the UAE’s medical tourism has been on the rise, with over 691k medical tourists visiting Dubai last year.
