Health spending and economic growth

In this study, the effects of health spending on economic growth in OECD countries were investigated between 1998 and 2017. In the scope of the study, a panel data was created by using output-side real GDP as dependent variable, gross capital formation, government consumption, health spending and human capital index as independent variables. In order to achieve economic growth, the spending of health takes an important place and the amount can differ from one country to another base on the development level of the country. When there is a good progress in economy of a country, the progress can be also seen in the fields of health and education as well. People, who are at a certain level economically and in terms of health, within a society, are one of the vital inputs for economic development. Therefore, this study which focuses on understanding the place of health spending in economic development is quite important. All actions, which affect people within a community in physical, psychological and social terms, are included in health care. In order to keep economic progress positively, the length of life-time should get longer and mortality should decrease. Manpower is an important factor that brings economic achievement to today's societies and therefore requires economic investment. So, the spending on health are kind of investment to succeed productivity in manpower and it cannot be considered as a burden to economy because of the fact that spending will turn into investments. Key words: Health Spending, Economic Growth