Hospital insurance grows as Australia’s coverage reaches 45.6%

Membership expanded across nearly every age bracket during 2025.

The number of Australians with private health insurance for hospital treatment rose by 287,393 in 2025, according to data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.

A total of 12.69 million people had hospital cover as at 31 December 2025, up 2.3% from 12.40 million a year earlier.

Private hospital insurance covered 45.6% of Australia’s population, compared with 45.3% at the end of 2024.

Women continued to make up the larger share of insured people. About 6.56 million women had hospital cover, compared with 6.13 million men. Coverage increased by 2.3% for both groups during the year.

New South Wales had the largest number of insured people at 4.07 million, followed by Victoria at 3.07 million and Queensland at 2.38 million.

Western Australia recorded the highest coverage rate amongst the states, with 54.6% of its population holding hospital insurance.

The Australian Capital Territory followed at 54.3%. Coverage was lowest in the Northern Territory at 39.0%. Queensland recorded a rate of 41.7%, whilst Tasmania and Victoria were both at about 42.9%.

Hospital cover increased across most age groups. The largest percentage rise was amongst people aged 95 and above, where membership grew 7.8% to 24,149.

Coverage amongst people aged 85 to 89 increased 6.1% to 201,504, whilst the number of insured people aged 80 to 84 rose 5.7% to 363,640.

Amongst younger adults, membership for those aged 25 to 29 increased 5.1% to 556,165. Cover for people aged 20 to 24 rose 3.2% to 600,915.

The only age group to record a fall was 60 to 64, where the number of insured people declined 0.3% to 789,372.

The figures are contained in APRA’s Private Health Insurance Annual Coverage Survey for December 2025, released on 30 July 2026.