Which Countries Have Universal Health Coverage?

Which Countries Have Universal Health Coverage?

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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Universal Health Coverage (UHC) means that everyone has access to a full range of health services—from emergency interventions to palliative care—without financial difficulty.

In this graphic, we use data from CEOWorld Magazine to visualize the countries that have UHC versus those that do not, along with how UHC coverage breaks down in terms of the global population.

The State of Universal Health Coverage in the World 

In 2024, 73 of the 195 countries worldwide had UHC, resulting in around 69% of the world’s population having some form of universal healthcare.

CountryUHC?

Albania Yes

Algeria Yes

Argentina Yes

Australia Yes

Austria Yes

Bahamas Yes

Belgium Yes

Bhutan Yes

Botswana Yes

Brazil Yes

Bulgaria Yes

Burkina Faso Yes

Canada Yes

Chile Yes

China Yes

Colombia Yes

Costa Rica Yes

Croatia Yes

Cuba Yes

Czech Republic Yes

Denmark Yes

Egypt Yes

Finland Yes

France Yes

Georgia Yes

Germany Yes

Ghana Yes

Greece Yes

Hong Kong Yes

Iceland Yes

India Yes

Indonesia Yes

Ireland Yes

Israel Yes

Italy Yes

Japan Yes

Kuwait Yes

Liechtenstein Yes

Luxembourg Yes

Macau Yes

Malaysia Yes

Maldives Yes

Mauritius Yes

Mexico Yes

Morocco Yes

Netherlands Yes

New Zealand Yes

North Korea Yes

Norway Yes

Pakistan Yes

Peru Yes

Philippines Yes

Poland Yes

Portugal Yes

Romania Yes

Russia Yes

Rwanda Yes

Serbia Yes

Seychelles Yes

Singapore Yes

South Africa Yes

South Korea Yes

Spain Yes

Sri Lanka Yes

Suriname Yes

Sweden Yes

Switzerland Yes

Taiwan Yes

Thailand Yes

Trinidad and Tobago Yes

Tunisia Yes

Turkey Yes

United Kingdom Yes

The United States is the only developed country without health coverage for all of its citizens.

As of 2022, the Census Bureau estimated that only 36.1% of Americans were covered by public health insurance. Private health insurance covered 65.6% of the population. This along with other facts has led the U.S. having the world’s highest healthcare spending figure per capita.

The History of Public Health Coverage

Germany was the first country to establish a social health insurance system. Launched in 1883, the program began by covering only blue-collar workers, then slowly expanded its net of those covered.

The first international declaration underlying the need for adequate health care was the Declaration of Alma-Ata in 1978 at the International Conference on Primary Health Care in 1978. The conference’s target was to achieve global UHC by 2000.

The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion of 1986 also reiterated the “Health for All by the year 2000” goal, ultimately paving the way for more countries to adopt UHC.

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