This third edition of Health at a Glance – OECD Indicators 2005 provides the latest comparable data and trends on different aspects of the performance of health systems in OECD countries. It provides striking evidence of large variations across countries in indicators of health status and health risks, and in the costs, allocation of resources and outputs of health systems. Compared to the previous edition, it contains an expanded set of indicators related to health promotion and disease prevention, reflecting growing policy interest in striking a better balance between spending on prevention and care.

Each indicator in the book is presented in a user-friendly format, consisting of charts illustrating variations across countries and over time, brief commentaries highlighting the key findings conveyed by the data, and a methodological box on the definition of the indicator. Each table and graph has a StatLink at the bottom, enabling users to find the related data in spreadsheet form over the internet. In addition, a statistical annex provides additional information for each indicator, often presenting long time series going as far back as 1960.

This publication takes as its basis OECD Health Data 2005, the most comprehensive database on health and health systems across the 30 OECD member countries.