Health inequalities between emerging market (EM) and advanced economies persist despite converging economic development. This study focuses on the empirical drivers of life expectancy (LE) across EM economies (BRICS, MIST, EM7) compared with the EU-27 and the United States, emphasizing observed outcome differentials and their structural determinants. Results show substantial disparities in healthcare financing: government health expenditure in EM7 averages only 2.4% of GDP, far below the EU-27 (8.4%) and the United States (10.7%), while out-of-pocket payments exceed 50% in BRICS countries. Despite these constraints, EM7 achieves a mean LE of 73.5 years, compared to approximately 80.5 in the EU-27 and 77.0 in the United States, indicating relatively favourable outcomes given limited resources. Multivariable OLS regression demonstrates strong explanatory power (R 2 = 0.77; Adj. R 2 = 0.71), identifying the Human Capital Index (HCI) as the dominant predictor of LE (β = 39.97, p < 0.001). Including both LE and the HCI allows one to distinguish between realized longevity and forward-looking human capital. This relationship is reinforced by bivariate analysis, explaining most of the variation within EM countries. Lifestyle factors play a compensatory role: lower alcohol consumption and obesity rates in EM economies partially offset structural deficits in financing and infrastructure. However, digital health readiness remains significantly lower (EM7: 3.68/5 vs. EU-27: 4.37/5; USA: 5.0/5), highlighting an additional gap in system capacity. Overall, findings indicate that human capital is the central lever of health outcomes. Policy implications point to prioritising investments in human capital formation, strengthening healthcare capacity, and accelerating digital health development tailored to fiscal constraints.
Dawid Majcherek (Fri,) studied this question.