| Independently reported | |
| Chile as a source market | 41 per cent of medical tourists recorded in Argentina, the largest single origin[1] |
|---|---|
| Year of that breakdown | Not stated in the source[1] |
| Chilean count of outbound patients | No figure located in any source[1] |
| Chilean count of inbound patients | No figure located in any source[1] |
| South America in United States outbound health travel | 26 per cent of destinations, with no country-level breakdown[3] |
| Procedures most sought by United States travellers | Cosmetic surgery, dental care, cancer treatment, fertility treatment and organ transplantation[2] |
| This entry has no primary-record band and is one of the thinnest in the series. No Chilean government source on medical travel in either direction was obtainable: a Chilean news report containing official data on foreign nationals’ use of the health system could not be opened, and no health ministry, insurance regulator or statistics office publication was located. The one Chile-specific figure here comes from Argentine tourism promotion data reported at second hand. No typical cost range is given. | |
Medical tourism in Chile appears in the accessible record only from the outside. The sole Chile-specific figure located is in Argentine tourism promotion data, where Chile is the largest single source of medical tourists to Argentina at 41 per cent. No Chilean source quantifying either patients leaving Chile or patients coming to it was obtainable.
Chile as a source market
A report published on 18 September 2015 gives Argentina’s medical tourist origins, from data of the Argentine National Institute of Tourism Promotion, as Chile 41 per cent, Uruguay 29 per cent, and Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and other Central American countries together 30 per cent, against a total of more than 14,000 foreigners recorded in Argentina in 2014. No year is given for the origin breakdown itself.[1]
Applying 41 per cent to a total of more than 14,000 would give roughly 5,700 Chilean patients, but the source does not state that the two figures describe the same year, so the product is not given here as a count. What the data does establish is the direction and the rank: Chile is Argentina’s largest recorded origin country.
This is informative about Chile despite coming from Argentine records. Chile has among the higher incomes in South America and a health system combining a public insurer with private insurers and private clinics, so Chilean patients travelling to a neighbour for treatment are unlikely to be driven by an absence of domestic capacity. Cost, waiting times, or the price difference created by the exchange rate are the more plausible drivers, and none of those can be confirmed from the sources located here.
What could not be obtained
Two kinds of Chilean material were sought and not obtained. The first is any government statement or statistic on medical travel, from the health ministry, the health insurance regulator or the national statistics office; none was located. The second is Chilean data on foreign nationals’ use of the health system, which is the live domestic question in several countries covered in this series. A Chilean news report carrying such figures, including shares of medical consultations and of hospital births attributed to migrants, was identified but could not be opened on two attempts, so none of its content is reported here.
Both gaps are stated rather than filled. Chile is extensively listed by commercial medical tourism directories, which carry patient volumes, price comparisons and clinic rankings; none has been used, because their figures carry no verifiable source.
Regional context
A 2015 briefing by an economist in the United States International Trade Commission’s Office of Industries, published as the author’s own views and not the Commission’s, records South America as 26 per cent of destinations for outbound United States health travellers in 2011, the largest regional share, with no country-level breakdown, and gives the global estimate of roughly 3 million patients travelling for healthcare each year.[3]
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention names several South American countries among the most common destinations for United States medical tourists, identifies cosmetic surgery, dental care, cancer treatment, fertility treatment and organ transplantation as the procedures most often sought, and states that accreditation does not guarantee a good outcome. Chile is not named individually.[2]
Limits of the evidence
This entry contains one Chile-specific datum, a percentage share in another country’s tourism promotion statistics, reported at second hand, undated, and derived from a body that is not a health statistics agency. It supports no statement about the size of Chilean outbound medical travel and none is made. No Chilean health system figures, hospital capacity data, accreditation register or price information appear here because none was obtained. Chile deserves a fuller entry than the accessible record supports.
See also
- Medical tourism in Argentina, the destination whose records contain the Chilean figure
- Outbound medical tourism, the direction Chile appears in
- Source markets in medical tourism, the role the record assigns to Chile
- Medical travellers and resident foreign patients, the distinction the missing Chilean data concerns
- Medical tourism statistics, and a country visible only in other countries’ records
References
- International Medical Travel Journal. Argentine medical tourism figures. Published 18 September 2015. Independently reported: the report was opened and the source country breakdown of Argentine medical tourists giving Chile 41 per cent, Uruguay 29 per cent and Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and other Central American countries together 30 per cent, attributed to data of the National Institute of Tourism Promotion, the total of more than 14,000 foreigners recorded in Argentina in 2014, and the absence of any year for the origin breakdown were read directly. The report contains no Chilean data other than this share. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
- Stoney, R. J. and Leidel, L. Medical Tourism. CDC Yellow Book: Health Information for International Travel, 2026 edition, United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Page dated 23 April 2025. Independently reported: the chapter was opened and the naming of several South American countries among the most common destinations for United States medical tourists without Chile being named individually, the listing of cosmetic surgery, dental care, cancer treatment, fertility treatment and organ transplantation as the procedures most often sought, and the statement that accreditation does not guarantee a good outcome were read directly. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
- Chambers, A. Trends in U.S. Health Travel Services Trade. Office of Industries, United States International Trade Commission, Executive Briefing on Trade, August 2015. Independently reported: the briefing was opened and the 2011 outbound destination share of South America at 26 per cent with no country-level breakdown, and the global estimate that roughly 3 million patients are thought to travel for healthcare each year, were read directly. The briefing states that the views expressed are those of the author and not those of the Commission. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
Sourcing note: this entry does not multiply 41 per cent by 14,000 to produce a Chilean patient count, because the source does not state that the share and the total describe the same year. The Chilean news report containing official data on migrants’ use of the health system is named as sought and unobtainable rather than summarised from its headline, since the page could not be opened. Commercial directories listing Chilean clinics and prices were excluded for want of a verifiable source. Nothing has been estimated.