Current growth in UK health funding falls below the long-term historical average

Average real-terms growth in total UK health spending by government

Thatcher and Major, Conservative

Blair and Brown, Labour

Coalition

Cameron and May, Conservative

Johnson, Truss and Sunak, Conservative

Sunak, Conservative

7%

6.7

6

5.7

1979-80 to

2019-20 average

(England) 3.9%

5

4

3%

3

2.4

2

1.1

1

0.1

0

1980

1990

2000

2010

2020

Thatcher and Major, Conservative

Blair and Brown, Labour

Coalition

Cameron and May, Conservative

Johnson, Truss and Sunak, Conservative

Sunak, Conservative

7%

6.7%

6

5.7%

1979-80 to 2019-20

average (England) 3.9%

5

4

3%

3

2.4%

2

1.1%

1

0.1%

0

1980

1990

2000

2010

2020

Guardian graphic. The Health Foundation, HMT spring budget 2023 and House of Commons NHS Funding Expenditure (briefing paper, January 2019). Note: The chart shows real-terms average growth rates for DHSC TDEL spending excluding Covid-19 spending in years 2020-21 and 2021-22, using the March 2023 GDP deflator. The long-term average spending growth for England is 3.9%, slightly higher than the growth rate in UK-wide health spending (3.6%) calculated over the period 1949-50 to 2019-20.