Health at a Glance 2021: OECD Indicators

Highlights for Mexico

Health at a Glance provides the latest comparable data and trends on the performance of health systems in
OECD countries and key emerging economies. Alongside indicator-by-indicator analysis, this edition offers a
special chapter on the health impact of COVID-19.

With COVID-19, Mexico experienced the highest excess mortality in the OECD and
significant disruptions to other care

As of November 1, more than 3.8

All-cause mortality in 2020 and the
million COVID-19 infections and
first six months of 2021 rose by
nearly 290 000 deaths from the virus
54.8% compared with the 2015-2019
had been recorded. Low testing rates
average.
hide the full impact of the pandemic.

The pandemic caused health

Around 8% of COVID-19 cases and spending as a share of GDP to rise
close to 2% of all deaths have sharply, from 5.4% in 2019 to 6.2%
occurred among health workers. in 2020 (compared to an average
0.9 percentage point increase in the
OECD area).

Less than half (47%) of the Mexican
population has been fully vaccinated
against COVID-19, compared to 65%
across the OECD on average (as of
November 1).
Mexico had the third-lowest
vaccination rate against COVID-19
across 37 OECD countries on
November 1, a decline from sixth-
lowest at the beginning of July.

The crisis had a significant negative

The pandemic resulted in forgone
impact on mental health. In Mexico,
care, including a 9% drop in in-
the prevalence of depression was
person doctor consultations in 2020,
nine times higher in early 2020,
compared to the previous year.
compared to 2019.

Cumulative excess mortality compared to reported COVID-19 deaths per million population, January 2020 to end June 2021
Excess deaths per 1 million population COVID-19 deaths per 1 million population
4 500
4 000
3 500
3 000
2 500
2 000
1 500
1 000
500
0
- 500
 Mexico Highest performer
Health at a Glance 2021: How does Mexico compare? OECD Lowest performer

Life expectancy in Mexico is the lowest across all OECD countries, and avoidable mortality is high
75.1
Life expectancy (2019 or nearest year)
Years of life at birth 70 81.0 90
84.4
Avoidable mortality (2019 or nearest year) 366
Deaths per 100 000 population (age-standardised) 0 500
97 199 405
Population ageing (2019 or nearest year)
% of population 65 and older 0 30
7.4 17.3 28.4

Overweight and obesity rates are significantly above the OECD average
Smoking (2019 or nearest year)
Daily smokers (% population 15+) 0
4 8 17 28
30

Alcohol (2019 or nearest year)

Litres consumed per capita (population 15+) 0
1 4 13
15
9
Overweight/obese (2019 or nearest year)
Population with BMI>=25 (% population 15+) 0 100
27 56 75
Air pollution (2019 or nearest year) Mexico, 28.7
Deaths due to ambient particulate matter pollution
0 100
(per 100 000 population) 5
OECD, 28.9
73

Population coverage and financial protection still lag behind the OECD average
Population coverage, eligibility (2019 or nearest year)
Population eligible for core services (% population) 75
81 98 100
Financial protection (2019 or nearest year)
Expenditure covered by compulsory prepayment
0 100
(% total expenditure) 49 74 86

Population coverage, satisfaction (2019 or nearest year)

Population satisfied with availability of quality health care
25 100
(% population) 48 71 93

Some key measures of quality preventive and secondary care are below the OECD average
Effective primary care (2019 or nearest year)
Avoidable COPD admissions
(per 100 000 people, age-sex standardised) 0 400
39 65 171 336
Effective preventive care (2019 or nearest year)
Mammography screening within the past two years
(% of women 50+) 0
31 45 62 95
100

Effective secondary care (2019 or nearest year)

30 day mortality following AMI 0 30
(per 100 000 people, age-sex standardised) 2 7 28

The health system in Mexico is under-resourced, with low numbers of doctors and nurses
Health spending (2019 or nearest year)
% GDP 4.3 5.4 8.8 16.8

Hospital beds (2019 or nearest year)

0 16
Per 1 000 population 1.0 4.4 12.8
2.4
Doctors (2019 or nearest year)
Practicing physicians (per 1 000 population) 0 2.0 3.6 20
6.16
2.9
Nurses (2019 or nearest year)
Practicing nurses (per 1 000 population) 0 1.4 20
8.8 18.0

Source: Health at a Glance 2021: OECD Indicators. https://www.oecd.org/health/health-at-a-glance.htm.