The low rate of avoidable hospital admissions in countries like Italy is associated with a primary care sector that generally performs well, although even in Italy, the overall good performance hides significant variations across regions (the southern regions have higher hospitalisation rates for chronic diseases than northern regions; OECD, 2014). Data for Italy are for 2001 rather than 2000. Data for the United States are for 2010 rather titan 2013. Data for Japan are for 2011 rather than 2013. Data for Canada and Australia are for 2012 rather than 2013.