As the chart of health care spending per person shows (below), the countries in the highest quintile (20%) spend more than 16 times the amount spent by the lowest quintile. The highest 5% of the countries spend 4492% of the lowest quintile. This is after adjusting the per capita spending rates to international dollars (to account for Purchasing Power Parity), and includes both government and personal expenditures.

Despite the wide gaps, higher spending on health care does not necessarily prolong lives. In 2000, the United States spent more on health care than any other country in the world: an average of $4,500 per person. Switzerland was second highest, at $3,300 or 71% of the US. Nevertheless, average US life expectancy ranks 27th in the world, at 77 years. Many countries achieve higher life expectancy rates with significantly lower spending. The chart below shows the top 30 countries in the world ranked by life expectancy. The red line indicates per-capita health expenditure (right axis), and shows that many countries outperform the US with approximately half the spending.