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Catastrophic Health Expenditure Calculator

Work out catastrophic health expenditure instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Catastrophic Health Expenditure Calculator

Compares household out-of-pocket health spending with the chosen share of household consumption, the SDG 3.8.2 definition of catastrophic expenditure.

Formula

Catastrophic expenditure

Budget share = out-of-pocket spending / household consumption; catastrophic if the share reaches the 10% or 25% SDG threshold

Worked example

With the default values below, Catastrophic Health Expenditure Calculator returns Health spending as a share of the household budget of 13.333%. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Household out-of-pocket health spendingaccepts 0–10,000,000
8,000
Household consumption or incomeaccepts 1–100,000,000
60,000
Catastrophic thresholdaccepts 5–40
10

Results

Health spending as a share of the household budget
13.333%
Classification
Catastrophic at this threshold
Spending above the threshold
$2,000.00
Overshoot above the threshold
3.333%

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2Catastrophic expenditure
  3. 3Health spending as a share of the household budget= 13.333
  4. 4Classification= Catastrophic at this threshold
  5. 5Spending above the threshold= 2,000.00
  6. 6Overshoot above the threshold= 3.333

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 3 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to 3 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which threshold is official?

SDG indicator 3.8.2 reports both 10% and 25% of household total consumption or income.

What about impoverishing spending?

A separate measure counts households pushed below a poverty line by health payments, which can occur below the catastrophic threshold.

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