Asia-Pacific’s Health Systems: Confidence in Care Holds, Rising Focus on Wellbeing
Public confidence in healthcare remains steady in parts of Asia-Pacific, but optimism for the future is waning. People rate their current systems well, yet fewer believe quality will continue to improve.
The Ipsos Health Services Monitor 2025, covering 30 countries including key 12 Asian markets, finds that Asia’s high satisfaction levels now coexist with rising awareness of mental-health challenges and structural strain. While Malaysians are the most likely to rate their healthcare as good, other markets are showing signs of plateauing optimism.
Regional Overview: Confidence Steady, Optimism Softens
In 2025, 75% of Malaysians say their healthcare system is good, up slightly from 2018, and is the highest score globally.
Australia (64%), South Korea (52%), and Singapore (61%) also remain above the 30-country average of 43%. However, several markets show attrition in future expectations. Respondents in India, Indonesia and Singapore are less likely than last year to believe their healthcare quality will improve.
Figure 1. Malaysia leads global satisfaction with healthcare quality (75%), while most Asia-Pacific markets remain above the 30-country average.
Source: Ipsos Health Service Report 2025, p. 39
While satisfaction looks to be holding, expectations are cooling. Rising access and staffing pressures are making citizens increasingly skeptical of their systems keeping pace with future demand. This highlights a communications and policy challenge; maintaining trust now depends on visible improvement and not just reassurance alone.
Mental Health Rises to the Top of Asia’s Health Agenda
Across 30 countries surveyed, 45% now identify mental health as the biggest health problem, up 18 points since 2018.
In Asia-Pacific, concern is highest in Australia (62%), Singapore (53%), Indonesia (48%) and South Korea (46%).
The steep rise matters because it signals a structural shift in public expectations: mental wellbeing is now seen as part of basic healthcare provision, not a private or secondary concern.
Among young people, stress levels remain acute, with nearly 7 in 10 Gen Z across 30 countries say they experienced periods in the past year where they could not cope.
Figure 2. Mental-health concern has nearly doubled since 2018, surpassing cancer and obesity as the top global health issue.
Source: Ipsos Health Service Report 2025, p. 24
System Strain: Access, Staffing and Ageing Top the List
Access to treatments and waiting times remain the No.1 challenge globally (47%), followed by staff shortages (43%) and treatment cost (33%).
Asia mirrors these pressures:
- Indonesia (61%) and Singapore (58%) lead global concern about access.
- South Korea, a “super-aged” society, shows rising anxiety about its aging population (53% and up 10 points compared to 2018).
- Malaysia remains broadly satisfied yet increasingly aware of bureaucratic and access bottlenecks.
Figure 3. Access and staffing pressures dominate 2025 healthcare concerns — Indonesia (61%) and Singapore (58%) among the highest globally.
Source: Ipsos Health Service Report 2025, pp. 35–36
Healthcare satisfaction remains high in Asia, despite worries the systems are at capacity. Public concern over access and staffing underscores the need for investment in workforce planning and service efficiency, all tangible fixes that citizens can see.
Ageing Populations Deepen the System Challenge
Across developed Asian countries, aging is becoming the defining public health issue. In South Korea (53%), Singapore (49%) and Japan (46%), the ageing population is cited as the biggest health problem nationally. These markets combined have some of the world’s longest life expectancies, with rapidly shrinking working-age populations, putting increasing pressure on healthcare capacity, pensions, and caregiving systems.
While developing markets in Asia remain more focused on access and affordability, ageing economies are shifting concern towards sustainability, specifically how to maintain care quality and equity as dependency ratios rise.
Trust in Vaccines Remains High for Now
While vaccines support has weakened globally, Asia-Pacific remains comparatively steady. Support for compulsory vaccination stands at 61% globally and stays higher across much of the region Malaysia 69%, Indonesia 69%, South Korea 68%, Singapore 63% and Australia 60%.
The region’s stable vaccine confidence indicates enduring trust in medical institutions and collective responsibility. This marks an important asset as misinformation continues to challenge public healthcare worldwide.
GLP-1 Awareness: Global Buzz, Limited Regional Reach
Global awareness for GLP-1 weight management drugs stands at 36%, yet awareness in most Asian markets is below 25%.
Obesity remains a concern (25% globally), particularly in Australia, Thailand and Indonesia.
While global online narratives increasingly frame GLP-1s as part of lifestyle and wellness culture, such conversations are less visible in Asia, where access and awareness remain largely limited and concentrated among those who can afford these high-priced prescription drugs, many of which remain under patent protection.
Year-on-Year and Benchmark Context
Compared with 2024, global satisfaction is stable, but optimism for improvement has dipped three points.
Against the 2018 baseline, mental health concern has nearly doubled (27% to 45%), while perceptions of future quality improvement have fallen (34% to 28%).
Asia-Pacific’s steadiness underscores its institutional trust and pragmatic outlook, even as Europe and North America turn more pessimistic.
Looking at the long-term picture, people in Europe are less likely to think the quality of care they receive is good and at the same time are more likely to feel their healthcare system is overstretched. What’s more, few in the region think the quality of care will improve in the coming decade.
While in LATAM people are less likely to think the care they good compared to other regions but are among the most optimistic in thinking it will get better.
Perception of mental health as a major problem has risen across the world since before the Covid-19 pandemic. However, despite this belief that it is a more pressing issue than it was previously, many people feel that healthcare systems do not think it the same as physical health.
Jamie Stinson, Director, Ipsos Knowledge Centre
Source: Ipsos Health Service Report 2025, p. 4.
Looking Ahead Regionally
Asia-Pacific’s health narrative is moving from satisfaction to sustainability.
Public trust remains strong, but systems are nearing their operational limits.
The next phase will hinge on integration: connecting mental, digital, and preventive care to match a more informed and self-directed public.
