Private medical insurance (PMI) claims volumes rose by around 4% year-on-year as members continue to make more claims on their policies, according to Healthcode.
The clearing organisation processed and validated 11.8 million invoices during the year, up by just under 4% compared with 11.4 million in 2024.
The service said this generated £7.5bn revenue for the sector.
It added that it processed three million invoices from insurers on behalf of private healthcare providers in Q4, up 5% year-on-year on the final quarter of 2024.
It was also up 5% on the third quarter as claims volumes bounced back after falling for the second consecutive quarter in July to September.
The increase in the final quarter of the year was most pronounced in October – the busiest month of the year with 1,081,582 invoices.
This was the fourth month to exceed the million milestone in 2025, compared with three in 2024 and none at all in 2023.
The continuing growth in claims volumes in 2025 reinforces data from Health & Protection and the Association of British Insurers (ABI) of the continued growth in policy usage.
Treatment setting
Invoices submitted by hospitals were in line with Q4 2024 while those from non-hospital sources increased by an average of 8%.
The quarter witnessed the highest level of outpatient invoices of 2.76 million – up 5.8% year-on-year – while admitted volumes of 279,751 were a drop of 2.9%.
However, both were up on Q3 by 5% and 4% respectively.
The total annual invoice volume for outpatients was 10.7 million, up 4.2% year-on-year, while for admitted episodes it was 1.1 million, down 0.5%.
Orthopaedics ranked as the busiest hospital specialty in Q4 with 198,000 invoices which was up on Q3 (189,000) by just under 5%. The annual total of 768,000 was up 7% from 2024 (718,000).
Radiology ranked second with 127,000 – up by just short of 9% on Q3 (117,000) but the annual total of 482,000 was down 5% on 2024.
Hospital physiotherapy invoice volumes of 80,000 in Q4 (79,000) were up fractionally on Q3 (79,000) while the annual total of 328,000 was on a par with 2024.
The data also revealed 40,000 cardiology invoices were processed in Q4, up 5% on Q3 (38,000) while the annual total of 160,000 represented a significant 8% rise compared with 2024.
Countries and regions
Breaking the UK down by country, hospitals in Wales had the best Q4, exceeding 2024 PMI volumes by 12% when averaged across the three months.
Scotland ranked a close second (up 10%) and had a good 2025 overall with higher year-on-year volumes in ten out of twelve months.
There was no significant change for hospitals in England in Q4 and average growth for 2025 was just under 2%.
Most English regions fared better in Q4.
The exceptions were London and the North West where year-on-year hospital volumes were down 6% and 3% respectively when averaged across the three months.
But the North West had the most challenging year overall with insured invoice volumes lagging behind 2024 in seven months while London hospital volumes were lower in five months. Both saw muted growth across the year.
By contrast, the South West performed strongly in Q4, up 11% on average, and recorded invoice volumes above 2024 in nine out of 12 months – up just under 10% across the year.
Raising levels of activity
Peter Connor, managing director at Healthcode (pictured), said 2025 was the fifth successive year that private hospitals, clinics and healthcare professionals raised their level of activity.
“As more patients experience high quality diagnostic investigations and treatment for themselves, it’s not surprising that researchers are finding a positive view of the sector across a broad spectrum of the population, while providers have more opportunities to invest in their facilities, digital services and AI-powered healthcare,“ he said.
“So, while there’s been a natural moderation in the rate of growth, we’re still confident that the sector is in great shape as we head into 2026.”