Facebook Ads Cost Per Lead Benchmarks for Healthcare

Introduction

Healthcare’s Cost Per Lead (CPL) across all countries ran consistently above the global all‑industry benchmark through 2025, marked by a strong Q1 surge, a late‑summer low, and an October rebound. The year told a choppy story: sharp run‑ups early and early‑Q4, softer mid‑year, and a cooler finish into December. Volatility was notably higher than the broader market, with bigger month‑to‑month swings and more pronounced peaks.

This analysis is based on $3B worth of advertising data from our dataset, which provides strong directional benchmarks. This analysis explores ad performance trends for Healthcare in all countries compared to the global benchmark.

The story in the data

Healthcare CPL opened 2025 at $41.46 and closed at $44.17, up 6% across the year and 28% higher than December 2024 ($34.64). The annual average settled at $48.08, with a high at $59.43 in March and a low at $38.90 in September—a $20 band that defined the year’s range.

Momentum built quickly: January to March rose 43% ($41.46 → $59.43). April reset to $46.56 (−22% vs. March), followed by a May pop to $53.77. Mid‑year cooled into August ($43.39) before the September trough ($38.90). Then came the sharpest single‑month jump—October spiked 35% to $52.59—before easing through November ($50.10) and December ($44.17). On average, month‑over‑month absolute movement was $6.82, underscoring a more jagged pattern than the broader market.

For context, the global all‑industry benchmark averaged $40.19 in 2025, peaking at $48.41 in October and bottoming at $32.53 in December.

Seasonal and monthly dynamics

The rhythm in Healthcare was defined by:

• Q1 escalation culminating in March’s yearly high, a pattern that bucked typical early‑year softness seen in other categories.
• Q2 stabilization with an April reset and a May lift, holding near the high‑40s/low‑50s.
• A gradual Q3 cool‑down to the September low, the softest month of the year.
• A pronounced October rebound—often aligned with broader Q4 competition—followed by a step‑down into year‑end.

Quarterly averages highlight those shifts: Healthcare averaged $51.30 in Q1, $49.08 in Q2, $42.99 in Q3, and $48.95 in Q4. The trough‑to‑peak swing from September to October was the clearest inflection.

Country vs. Global

Compared with the global benchmark, Healthcare CPL was higher on average by about 20% ($48.08 vs. $40.19). It finished above market in 11 of 12 months. The gap was widest in March (+79% vs. global), narrowed to near parity in August (+1%), and inverted in September (−19% below global). Healthcare’s quarterly lifts outpaced the market in Q1 (+43% vs. global Q1 average of $35.94), Q2 (+26%), and Q4 (+16%), while Q3 hovered near parity (−2%).

Volatility was also a differentiator: Healthcare’s average monthly move of $6.82 exceeded the global market’s $3.91 by roughly 74%, reflecting sharper swings across the year. Notably, while the global benchmark declined from January to December (−7%), Healthcare edged higher (+6%) and ended December 36% above the global CPL.

Closing

Understanding Facebook Ads Cost Per Lead benchmarks for the Healthcare industry across all countries shows a year of elevated, more volatile CPLs versus the global market—marked by a Q1 surge, a September low, and an October rebound. These industry ad performance insights help frame CPL trends within broader Facebook Ads benchmarks, complementing views alongside CPC trends, CPM analysis, and CTR performance at a global level.