MARKETS-European health expenditure to rise 2% a year

European health expenditure is expected to rise by 2% annually, reaching around US$722 billion in 1998, compared with an annual growth rate of about 1.8% for the period 1983-1993, estimates US market research firm The Freedonia Group Inc.

In the second volume of its world healthcare study World Health Care II FE Europe (number 667, $3200), Freedonia says spending for physicians' and other alternative site services will grow most rapidly, partic- ularly in western Europe where "stricter cost containment measures will lead to the greater substitution of outpatient for inpatient care." However, although spending on hospital care will grow more slowly, it will still …