Health system expenditure
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How much is spent on diabetes?
In 2023–24, an estimated $4.4 billion of expenditure in the Australian health system was attributed to diabetes, representing 2.4% of total disease expenditure.
- Public hospital admitted patients accounted for 31% of total diabetes expenditure and was the highest area of health system spending with $1.4 billion.
- The combined spending on hospital services accounted for 43% ($1.9 billion).
What is health system expenditure on diabetes?
This section provides recent data on health system expenditure on diabetes, with details by diabetes type, health-care service, age group, and sex. It includes expenditure by the Australian Government, state, territory and local governments and the non-government sector (including private health insurance and individual contributions). These estimates report expenditure for hospitals (public and private admitted patient services, public hospital emergency departments, and public hospital outpatient clinics), primary health care (general practitioner services, allied health services, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and dental expenditure) and referred medical services (specialist services, medical imaging, and pathology). They do not account for the total amount spent on diabetes health.
Further information on how the estimates were derived is available from Health system spending on disease and injury in Australia 2023–24.
How much is spent on diabetes?
Of the $4.4 billion health system expenditure attributed to diabetes in 2023–24, an estimated:
- $3.1 billion was attributed to type 2 diabetes
- $453.4 million was attributed to type 1 diabetes
- $78.9 million was attributed to gestational diabetes
- $691.1 million was attributed to ‘other/unspecified’ diabetes (AIHW 2025).
Note: Due to the high expenditure for ‘other/unspecified’ diabetes, caution should be used when interpreting data by diabetes type.
Where is the money spent?
In 2023–24, public hospital admitted patients and medications dispensed through the PBS were the highest areas of health system spending for diabetes each accounting for 31% of total diabetes expenditure ($1.4 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively).
The combined spending on hospital services accounted for 43% (1.9 billion). This included expenditure on public hospital admitted patients ($1.4 billion), public hospital outpatients ($414.0 million), private hospital admitted patient ($78.5 million), and public hospital emergency departments ($39.4 million) (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Health care expenditure on diabetes, by diabetes type and area of expenditure, 2023–24
The highest expenditure for type 1 and type 2 diabetes was PBS dispensed medications.
| Health system area | Expenditure ($ million) |
|---|---|
| Public hospital admitted patient | 1,357.7 |
| Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme | 1,341.0 |
| Public hospital outpatient | 414.0 |
| General practitioner services | 355.6 |
| Dental expenditure | 343.0 |
| Pathology | 273.7 |
| Specialist services | 105.1 |
| Private hospital admitted patient | 78.5 |
| Allied health and other services | 60.8 |
| Public hospital emergency department | 39.4 |
| Medical imaging | 3.2 |
| Health system area | Expenditure ($ million) |
|---|---|
| Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme | 154.6 |
| Public hospital admitted patient | 153.8 |
| Public hospital outpatient | 53.9 |
| Dental expenditure | 24.3 |
| General practitioner services | 22.0 |
| Pathology | 13.4 |
| Specialist services | 10.8 |
| Public hospital emergency department | 9.5 |
| Private hospital admitted patient | 7.9 |
| Allied health and other services | 2.8 |
| Medical imaging | 0.5 |
| Health system area | Expenditure ($ million) |
|---|---|
| Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme | 1,183.3 |
| Public hospital admitted patient | 1,115.1 |
| Dental expenditure | 211.0 |
| General practitioner services | 177.1 |
| Public hospital outpatient | 174.4 |
| Pathology | 134.1 |
| Private hospital admitted patient | 69.0 |
| Specialist services | 43.7 |
| Allied health and other services | 33.1 |
| Public hospital emergency department | 6.9 |
| Medical imaging | 0.9 |
| Health system area | Expenditure ($ million) |
|---|---|
| Public hospital outpatient | 171.9 |
| General practitioner services | 154.6 |
| Pathology | 121.6 |
| Dental expenditure | 107.7 |
| Specialist services | 45.8 |
| Public hospital admitted patient | 39.1 |
| Allied health and other services | 23.7 |
| Public hospital emergency department | 23.0 |
| Medical imaging | 1.8 |
| Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme | 1.0 |
| Private hospital admitted patient | 0.9 |
| Health system area | Expenditure ($ million) |
|---|---|
| Public hospital admitted patient | 49.8 |
| Public hospital outpatient | 13.8 |
| Specialist services | 4.8 |
| Pathology | 4.7 |
| Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme | 2.1 |
| General practitioner services | 2.0 |
| Allied health and other services | 1.2 |
| Private hospital admitted patient | 0.6 |
| Medical imaging | 0.01 |
| Public hospital emergency department | n.a. |
| Dental expenditure | n.a. |
Notes
- Pharmaceutical benefit expenditure includes over and under copayment prescriptions.
- n.a. not applicable
Source:
AIHW Disease Expenditure Database.
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Data source overview
Who is the money spent on?
The health system expenditure attributed to diabetes varies significantly according to age and sex.
In 2023–24, total diabetes expenditure:
- was about 1.3 times as high in males compared with females ($2.4 billion and $1.9 billion, respectively)
- generally increased with increasing age with around 75% being spent on people aged 55 and over and peaking in the 70–74 age group at $600.7 million. A similar pattern of expenditure is seen for males and females, separately (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Health care expenditure on diabetes (all areas), by diabetes type, age and sex, 2023–24
The chart shows expenditure peaked in ages 70–74 for both males and females for type 2 diabetes, and ages 60–64 and 65–69, respectively, for type 1 diabetes
For information for First Nations people see chapter for First Nations people.
References
AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2025) Health system spending on disease and injury in Australia 2023–24, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 03 December 2025.