Israeli health system snags 19th spot on global ranking

Israel is ranked 19th in the 2023 US News & World Report’s most well-developed public health system rankings.

Israel comes in behind Ireland and ahead of Spain out of a total of 87 countries surveyed.

Sweden is ranked as having the world’s most well-developed public health system, with Canada, Finland, Denmark, and Norway coming next.

Rounding out the top 10 are Switzerland, Germany, Australia, the UK and Belgium.

Illustrative: A member of the medical staff at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem in Jerusalem on August 25, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90/File)

The public healthcare system rankings are a subcategory of the Best Country rankings, which examine a nation’s worth based on global perceptions and qualitative characteristics. More than 17,000 people from around the world from March 17 to June 12 were polled as part of the ranking.

The 87 countries in the report met certain benchmarks, account for about 95% of global gross domestic product, and represent nearly 80% of the world’s population.

“Countries that were perceived by the survey respondents as having good public health systems tend to have universal healthcare, spend more on social needs, and their citizens have longer lifespans,” the report says.