The extent to which objectives are achieved by minimizing the use of resources.
Efficiency is obtaining the best possible value for the resources used.
World Health Organization. European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. Glossary. 2009.
Efficiency is a concept concerned with the relationship between inputs and outputs in the production of goods and services.
This relationship can be measured in physical terms (technical efficiency) or cost terms (economic efficiency). The concept of allocative efficiency adds the further consideration of consumer demand and consumer welfare, and considers the allocation of resources so as to produce the combination of goods and services that best meets the pattern of consumer demand.