Countries with the Worst Healthcare 2026

The quality and accessibility of healthcare can vary dramatically around the world. Whilst many countries have made significant advancements in their medical provision, other regions continue to struggle with inadequate systems that don’t meet the needs of their population. Understanding these disparities is crucial for encouraging a global dialogue on health equality and the urgent need for reform.

We explored the data from the most recent Numbeo Global Healthcare Index to find the countries with the worst healthcare systems in 2026.

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To compile this data, Numbeo looked at 101 countries and compiled a healthcare index. Factoring in medical professionals, equipment, healthcare costs, infrastructure and resources, each nation was given a score of 0-100. The lower the score, the worse the healthcare system ranks. At the bottom of the page, you’ll find the full list.

To compile this data, Numbeo looked at 101 countries and compiled a healthcare index. Factoring in medical professionals, equipment, healthcare costs, infrastructure and resources, each nation was given a score of 0-100. The lower the score, the worse the healthcare system ranks. At the bottom of the page, you’ll find the full list.

Numbeo carry out this research twice a year, allowing for as accurate data capture as possible. At the time of writing, the second study had just concluded, and results are largely similar to what was discovered at the start of 2026.

The 5 worst healthcare systems in the world, according to Numbeo, are as follows:

Syria currently sits bottom of the global health index with a score of just 35.7. With conflict having severely disrupted the country, the healthcare system is in a state of turmoil. Access to basic health services remains a challenge, and facilities are overburdened due to the various displacements that have happened throughout the country.

Unfortunately, health facilities have often been targeted during conflict, too, and such incidents have led to a huge reduction in suitable and available amenities. For example, according to reports from Humanitarian Action, last year, there were 33 verified attacked on health facilities, transport, and logistic sites. Currently, only around 57% of hospitals and 30% of primary health care centres are fully functional.

In addition, an increasing risk of disease due to poor sanitation, unsuitable shelter, lack of access to safe water and overcrowding puts additional strain on an already faltering health system.

Next on the list is Venezuela. Scoring 39.4, it is currently the second-worst country in the world for healthcare on the Numbeo rankings. Once seen as one of the best countries for healthcare in Latin America, it is now in a state of disarray. With life expectancy declining, an exodus of healthcare professionals and limited access to care, the nation is struggling to provide what its population needs.

With many remote areas lacking basic healthcare services, and the major cities witnessing the impact of years of government underfunding, a healthcare crisis is spreading throughout the nation. A lack of access to medical supplies and medical professionals sees citizens struggling to get basic ailments treated. And where there are facilities and healthcare workers, the facilities they work in often lack running water and suitable conditions for treatment.

Bangladesh is the third-worst country for its healthcare system on the Numbeo rankings, scoring a 42.1. So poor is the healthcare system thought of by residents that hundreds of thousands of people travel from Bangladesh to hospitals overseas for treatment each year.

The reasons for this high number vary, but previous reports have stated that inadequate facilities, long wait times and a lack of trust in the system have seen people find better options in India and Thailand.

At present, primary healthcare isn’t free for everyone in Bangladesh, meaning certain help is often unobtainable. However, the Health Sector Reform Commission has put forward a proposal to ensure that everybody has access to free healthcare. For reference, around 75% of all health expenses in Bangladesh come directly from the patient rather than from insurance or central health finance.

Data from the World Health Organisation showed us that there were only 7 doctors per 10,000 people in Bangladesh, well below the recommended 22.8 doctors per 10,000 citizens. Furthermore, unregulated pharmacies and diagnostic centres distributing counterfeit drugs or supplying inaccurate results mean patient safety has often been compromised for cash.

Morocco is now the fourth-worst country for healthcare on the Numbeo rankings, scoring 46.8. While the government has poured money into reform in recent years, public frustration with the state of the system has boiled over, and widespread protests this year have put healthcare failures firmly in the national spotlight. A string of patient deaths at a hospital in Agadir, alongside widely shared footage of unsanitary wards elsewhere, became a rallying point for the GenZ 212 protest movement, which has cited crumbling public hospitals as one of its central grievances.

A recent report shows that Morocco needs around 83,000 additional healthcare professionals to meet demand, 28,000 of which are for doctors. Part of the issue is what’s known as “brain drain” – around 700 doctors are leaving the country every year for better pay and working conditions elsewhere.

Morocco is currently investing to try and turn this around, expanding medical training places, building new hospitals, and consolidating health insurance schemes under a single body to widen coverage. But with the gap between need and provision still growing, these reforms have yet to be felt in the country’s most under-served regions.

Iraq is the fifth worst country for healthcare, according to Numbeo’s index. Much like Syria, Iraq has been harmed by various levels of conflict over the past few decades. This has, in turn, severely harmed the healthcare system. It still manages to offer both private and public healthcare; however, it is still some way off delivering the standards you’d hope to expect.

Excellent doctors, surgeons, and other medical professionals are finding the lure of working abroad more attractive, draining the country of prime talent. This is in part due to working conditions, but also the state the healthcare system often finds itself in. Largely disorganised, with a hint of corruption and a significant lack of resources, it leaves healthcare workers disillusioned and patients unable to seek appropriate care.

The ten countries with the worst healthcare systems in the world, according to the latest Numbeo data, can be found below:

There is no single ranking of the worst hospitals in the world. Ranking hospitals relies on consistent data, such as infection rates, patient outcomes, and staffing levels. Many of the countries at the bottom of the Numbeo index don’t collect or publish that data. In conflict zones, the hospitals themselves are often damaged, closed, or running at reduced capacity. That makes it impossible to rank them fairly, even though they’re likely to be where conditions are at their worst.

This is why most rankings focus on the best hospitals in the world, as these places will often have the data readily available.

The Numbeo index reflects how residents rate their healthcare, but the scores are rooted in measurable factors. These include how many hospital beds are available, how many doctors and nurses there are to staff them, how much is spent per person, and how much of the cost falls on patients themselves.

Looking at these figures for the ten countries above helps to explain why their systems struggle, and shows that no single factor tells the whole story.

All figures come from the World Bank, which draws on data from the World Health Organisation. Countries report at different intervals, so the year shown is the most recent available for each.

Because Numbeo only covers 101 countries, some of the lowest figures in the world come from countries outside its ranking, so we’ve included these for comparison too.

Hospital beds per 1,000 people is the standard measure of a country’s hospital capacity. When there aren’t enough beds, hospitals become overcrowded, wait times grow, and patients might be discharged before they’re ready.

Morocco has just 0.7 beds per 1,000 people, fewer than a third of the global average of 3.3. Bangladesh, Venezuela, Iraq and Egypt all have around one bed per 1,000 people. Globally, Chad has the fewest hospital beds per person, with just 0.15 per 1,000 people, according to the latest figures from 2020.

No recent data is available for Nigeria.

However, bed numbers alone don’t guarantee good care. Montenegro and Azerbaijan both have more beds per person than the global average, yet still rank among the ten worst healthcare systems on the Numbeo index. Without enough trained staff, funding and modern equipment, beds can’t be used to their full potential.

Staffing is one of the biggest challenges for the countries on this list. Nigeria has just 0.4 doctors per 1,000 people, considerably lower than the global average of 1.9. Egypt, Bangladesh and Morocco each have around 0.7 doctors per 1,000 people. The global picture is even starker. Niger and South Sudan each have just 0.04 doctors per 1,000 people, roughly one doctor for every 25,000 people.

Nurse numbers follow a similar pattern. Bangladesh has 0.7 nurses and midwives per 1,000 people and Morocco has 0.9, compared with the 3.9 global average. Chad has the fewest nurses and midwives in the world, with just 0.17 per 1,000 people.

These shortages are often made worse by “brain drain”, as covered above in Morocco and Iraq, where trained doctors leave for better pay and working conditions abroad.

How much a country spends on healthcare shapes everything from staff salaries to equipment and medicine supplies. Syria spends around $33 per person each year on healthcare. Bangladesh spends around $53 per person and Nigeria around $67, compared with a global average of $1,317. Globally, Madagascar spends the least on healthcare, at around $17 per person each year.

In many of these countries, patients pay for a large share of their healthcare directly out of pocket, rather than through insurance or public funding. In Bangladesh, 79% of health spending comes straight from patients’ pockets, more than four times the global average of 17%. That’s the second-highest share in the world, behind only Armenia at 80%. Syria and Nigeria rank fifth and sixth globally 72%, and in Azerbaijan it’s 65%.

For expats, this can be an important figure to consider before you move. Where out-of-pocket costs are high, you may be expected to pay for treatment upfront. International health insurance can give you access to private facilities and help cover the cost of care, whether that’s treatment locally or medical evacuation to a better-equipped hospital elsewhere.