International Development Fund: non-communicable disease programme

Appendix 3: Country snapshots – Rwanda

Economic-political situation

Rwanda has made significant progress since the genocide of 1994. The current government, under the leadership of Paul Kagame, was re-elected in 2018 following an amendment of the constitution to allow a third term. Poverty has declined from 77% in 2001 to 55% in 2017. Socioeconomic and geographic inequalities are high and people with disabilities are significantly over-represented in the poorest quintiles. The economy continues to grow with an average growth of 7.2% in 2019, and an increase in per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of 5%.^[110]

Table 15: Population in Rwanda (2020, 2035, and 2050)^[111]

Population (million)

2020: 13.1

2035: 18.0

2050: 23.0

Health funding

Rwanda has increased its health budget by 33.6% in the last year, with the health budget share increasing to 9.2% in 2022. In 2021/22, domestic resources allocated to the health sector account for 43.2 per cent of the health sector budget, down from 51.4 per cent in 2020/21.^[112]

Out of pocket expenses

Two major insurers (CBHI and RSSB) cover around 90% of the population. Out of pocket payments remain low in Rwanda accounting for around 8% of total health spend in 2014/2015.^[113]

Source: UNICEF – Health Budget Brief: Investing in Children’s Health in Rwanda 2021/22. Reproduced under a CC-BY license.