The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SKR) has analysed the costs of regionally financed healthcare. Between 2014 and 2024, costs rose by 10 percent more than can be explained by prices, wages and demographic trends. This corresponds to almost 37 billion kronor in today's money.
Healthcare offers more advanced diagnostics, care and medicines today than it did in 2014, which is part of the reason for the increased costs. But we also see improved outcomes in many disease areas, says Douglas Knutsson, an analyst at SKR and one of the report’s authors.
This is particularly clear in cancer care, which has seen the largest increase in costs.
One explanation is probably that older people are healthier today and can undergo treatment at an older age. In addition, medical technology has developed rapidly, leading to several less invasive treatments, so even frail people can be treated, he says.
The same increase in costs has not been seen in cardiovascular diseases, despite mortality also declining. The report attributes this, among other things, to improvements in preventive treatment and follow-up, much of which is carried out in primary care.
At the same time, he stresses that increased costs always create a need for funding.
Healthcare and the regions need to constantly set priorities. They need to both introduce and evaluate new interventions and phase out those that provide limited value in relation to the resources required.
The costs of regionally financed healthcare rose by 10 percent more than can be explained by prices, wages and demographics between 2014 and 2024.
In the report, SKR divides the cost trend into four parts: demographics, care structure, care volumes and cost per care contact. The single biggest reason for the cost trend is that each care contact has become more expensive and resource-intensive.
Cancer care accounts for the largest increase in costs in specialised care, while survival rates have improved.
In cardiovascular diseases, costs have risen only modestly, while mortality and serious morbidity have declined.
The analysis covers regionally financed healthcare from 2014 to 2024, with a particular focus on specialised care.
The data comes from the regions' financial summaries, Statistics Sweden, SKR's economic and operational statistics and KPP, as well as the National Board of Health and Welfare's patient register and the Stockholm Region's VAL databases. Source: SKR