Global Healthcare Costs Projected to Rise More Than 10% in 2026

Global health insurance costs are projected to rise by more than 10% next year, according to WTW’s 2026 Global Medical Trends report. The consulting firm received data from a combined 91 countries, including 346 leading health insurers covering 82 countries and input for 54 countries from WTW brokers.

The survey of health insurers found that the average cost of medical health benefits will increase by 10.3% globally next year, following rises of 10% in 2025 and 9.5% in 2024.

According to WTW’s research, 55% of insurers expect this escalation to persist for more than three years, driven by high medical costs, regional pressures on pharmacy and outpatient services, and global structural factors.

“Despite variations in healthcare provision in different countries and regions around the world, rising medical costs are a consistent trend for all,” said Linda Pham, WTW’s global health and risk leader for integrated and global solutions. “One glimmer of hope for employers is that investment in technologies, including [artificial intelligence], is leading to higher costs at the moment, but following this phase, new technologies hold the promise of reducing healthcare cost trends in the longer term.”

From a disease-based perspective, cancer is the leading condition driving medical costs globally. It was named as the fastest-growing and most expensive diagnosis for insurers in nearly every region, cited by 57% of insurers globally. Three-quarters of insurers also observed an increase in cancer incidence among individuals under the age of 40.

Cardiovascular conditions (50%) also are growing significantly and rank second among the conditions driving medical claims costs, with behavioral health issues (37%) ranked third.

Regional Costs

Regionally, the highest cost increases are expected in Asia Pacific, at 14%, while Latin America is anticipating the sharpest acceleration in costs, from 10.5% this year to 11.9% expected in 2026.

The Middle East and Africa also will see above average healthcare cost increases, at 11.3%, while medical inflation is expected to fall slightly in North America, from 9.4% to 9.2%, and in Europe, from 8.3% to 8.2%. In the U.S., the healthcare cost is projected at 9.6% in 2026, which is slightly down from 9.7% in 2025 but still significantly higher than 7.6% in 2024.

* Global, Latin America, Europe, and Middle East and Africa numbers exclude Argentina, Egypt, Nigeria, Turkey and Zimbabwe due to volatile inflationary environments.

Next Steps

When addressing rising global healthcare costs, WTW experts suggested the following considerations for employers:

• Prioritize mental health.
• Spotlight cancer awareness and prevention.
• Introduce flexibility where possible.
• Consider employee cost share.
• Invest in education and prevention.

“The challenge of navigating healthcare inflation for multinational employers requires strategic management,” said Courtney Stubblefield, the firm’s managing director of health and benefits. “This can include investing in education for employees on the use of health benefits, raising awareness of prevention programs for prevalent diseases like cancer, optimizing mental health coverage and introducing flexibility of benefits. Through careful management and applying both a short- and longer-term lens to their approach, employers can make sure they are getting the most out of their healthcare benefits while managing cost inflation.”

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