Countries around the world are spending a greater proportion of their domestic budgets on health but the poorest states still lag far behind richer ones, according to a new report.

The analysis of spending on health by all 194 member states of the World Health Organization has found that in 2016 the world spent $7.5 trillion (£5.75 trillion) on health, close to 10 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP).

The growth was mainly driven by an increase in per capita GDP and an increase in overall public spending.

On average $1,000 was spent on health per person in 2016 but half of the world’s countries spent less than $350 per person.

According to the analysis only 20 per cent of the world’s population live in high income countries but these countries account for almost 80 per cent of spending on health.