Healthcare Systems and Health Economics in Gulf Cooperation Council Countries (2025)

The paper examines healthcare systems and health economics across the six member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC): Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It is motivated by the growing pressures of ageing populations, non-communicable diseases, cost escalation and health-technology adoption. The authors convened a focus group of 21 senior experts from each GCC state, who assessed system structure, access, financing, health-technology assessment (HTA), reimbursement and economic evaluation.

Key findings include:

Healthcare expenditure in GCC countries still relies heavily on oil/gas revenues and public funding; for example, in Oman public expenditure represents around 88% of the total healthcare spend.

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are ubiquitous and severe: for instance, the prevalence of diabetes in Oman stood at approximately 15.7%.

The HTA and health-economics infrastructure is underdeveloped: most countries lack formal cost-effectiveness thresholds (except Saudi Arabia), stable data systems, and institutional mandates to integrate economic evaluations into decision-making.

The healthcare systems are also characterized by fragmentation (public/private, multiple payers, different regulatory regimes), inconsistent data quality and governance, and limited collaboration across states.

In their conclusion, the authors recommend: establishing region-wide HTA frameworks or a Gulf Health Economics Research Centre; improving data infrastructure and cost-utility value sets; strengthening collaboration between academia and policymakers; and prioritizing economic evaluation in reimbursement decisions. These steps are necessary if GCC states are to sustain universal coverage, manage ageing societies and control rising costs.