Comparative Analysis of Health Expenditures in Turkey and OECD Countries: CRITIC-Based Hellwig and TOPSIS Approaches.

Purpose: The objective of this study is to comparatively analyse health expenditures in Turkey and OECD countries using 2023–2024 data. Given the limited number of studies combining the Hellwig and TOPSIS methods with recent datasets, this study addresses this gap by providing a more consistent and data-driven cross-country comparison of health expenditures. Methods: In the present study, a quintet of criteria were employed: per capita total health expenditure, public and private health expenditures, the share of health expenditure in GDP, and retail pharmaceutical expenditure. The evaluation of all criteria was conducted from the perspective of their potential benefit. Criterion weights were determined using the CRITIC method, and the analysis was conducted by integrating the Hellwig and TOPSIS methods, resulting in the ranking of countries. Results: The results show that both methods yield largely similar rankings, with the United States and Switzerland at the top, followed by Germany, Canada, Austria, and Australia. Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Finland are positioned in the middle group, while Turkey consistently ranks at the bottom. Overall, substantial differences are observed across OECD countries in both the level and composition of health expenditures. Conclusion: There are significant differences among OECD countries in both the level and composition of health expenditures. The findings indicate that Turkey is below the OECD average across all indicators and remains in the lowest group in terms of health expenditure, highlighting the need to strengthen health financing. In this context, it is recommended to gradually increase public health expenditure as a share of GDP, strengthen primary health care services, develop performance-based budgeting for preventive services, and implement resource allocation mechanisms to reduce regional disparities in health expenditures.