Health, Economic Growth and Jobs
The World Bank frames investment in health not only as a driver of better health outcomes, but as a direct catalyst for economic growth and employment. Investing in nutrition, for example, generates up to $23 in returns for every dollar spent, through improved health outcomes and increased productivity.
The economic case extends well beyond the health sector itself. Health investment creates direct jobs — physicians, nurses, community health workers — as well as indirect employment across pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical technology, and digital health. This produces a documented multiplier effect: in low-income countries, each job created within the health sector generates an estimated 3.4 additional jobs across related industries.
Despite this, underinvestment remains widespread. Governments in low-income countries spend less than 2 percent of GDP on health, leaving systems poorly positioned to meet the demands of aging populations, rising noncommunicable disease burden, and emerging health threats. The World Bank estimates that failing to invest in health systems supporting healthy longevity could result in economic losses amounting to billions of dollars annually.
The brief also highlights a gender dimension: women make up more than 70 percent of the global health workforce, yet hold only 25 percent of senior roles — pointing to an additional, underutilized lever for economic growth through more equitable workforce investment.
To translate health spending into sustained economic and employment gains, the World Bank argues financing must be adequate to expand coverage, efficient to maximize cost-effectiveness, and equitable to ensure access regardless of income or geography.
