For 2023, it was expected that physician expenditures in Alberta would average to some 1,444.7 Canadian dollars per person. Per capita health expenditures tend to differ among provinces partially due to differences in age distribution. This statistic shows a forecast of the physician expenditure per capita in Canada in 2024, by province/territory.

The average for 2020 based on 27 countries was 3.56 doctors per 1,000 people. The highest value was in Austria: 5.35 doctors per 1,000 people and the lowest value was in Brazil: 2.05 doctors per 1,000 people. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2021. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

This statistic shows the number of physicians in Canada from 1978 to 2023, per 100,000 population. In 1978, there were *** physicians per 100,000 population and the number increased to *** per 100,000 population in 2023.

Physicians (per 1,000 people) in Canada was reported at 2.497 in 2022, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Canada - Physicians - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on September of 2025.

The average for 2020 based on 2 countries was 2.57 doctors per 1,000 people. The highest value was in Canada: 2.73 doctors per 1,000 people and the lowest value was in Mexico: 2.41 doctors per 1,000 people. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2021. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

This statistic shows the number of family medicine physicians in Canada from 1978 to 2023, per 100,000 population. In 1978, there were ** physicians per every 100,000 population, and the number increased to *** per 100,000 population by 2023.

I medici in Canada sono diminuiti a 2,80 per 1000 persone nel 2022 rispetto a 2,81 per 1000 persone nel 2021. Questa pagina include un grafico con dati storici per i medici in Canada.

In Mexico, the number of practicing doctors amounted to around **** professionals per 1,000 inhabitants in 2022, an increase compared to the figures reported a year earlier when there were around **** practicing physicians per every thousand people. During the last year depicted, the number of physicians in Mexico totaled approximately ******* professionals. Density of doctors worldwide In a global comparison, Mexico ranks in an middle category for density of medical doctors per 1,000 population, similar to Canada and Colombia. Among the countries in the upper bracket for highest density of doctors are Cuba, Sweden, Belgium, and Uruguay. Along with Mexico’s moderate density of doctors, over ** percent of the population was considered vulnerable due to lack of access to health services in Mexico as of 2022, up from around **** percent a decade earlier. Health care in Mexico Nearly ** million people in Mexico held public health insurance through Seguro Popular in 2020, which was replaced by a new institution at the beginning of that year, called INSABI (Instituto Nacional de Salud para el Bienestar). However, the IMSS (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social) led by a large margin as the largest provider of health insurance in the North American country.

Among OECD countries in 2022, South Korea had the highest rate of yearly visits to a doctor per capita. On average, people in South Korea visited the doctors 15.7 times per year in person. Health care utilization is an important indicator of the success of a country’s health care system. There are many factors that affect health care utilization including healthcare structure and the supply of health care providers.

OECD health systems

Healthcare systems globally include a variety of tools for accessing healthcare, including private insurance based systems, like in the U.S., and universal systems, like in the U.K. Health systems have varying costs among the OECD countries. Worldwide, Europe has the highest expenditures for health as a proportion of the GDP. Among all OECD countries, The United States had the highest share of government spending on health care. Recent estimates of current per capita health expenditures showed the United States also had, by far, the highest per capita spending on health worldwide.

Supply of health providers

Globally, the country with the highest physician density is Cuba, although most other countries with high number of physicians to population was found in Europe. The number of graduates of medicine impacts the number of available physicians in countries. Among OECD countries, Latvia had the highest rate of graduates of medicine, which was almost twice the rate of the OECD average.

Demographic trends drive the rising demand for comprehensive primary care doctor services. An aging population's expanding medical needs are increasing the demographic's consumption of medical services. Primary care physicians are also first in line to help this demographic navigate complex conditions and visit specialists. Sudden population growth – an outcome of a surge in immigration and temporary residents – has also expanded the need for primary care physicians. When the pandemic abruptly disrupted healthy spending on primary care, providers had to navigate unprecedented financial and operating pressures. Telehealth adoption did allow primary care providers to continue to meet with patients, while federal funding allowed practices to cover wage expenses as patient volume dropped. Though pandemic concerns have been alleviated, inflation and labor shortages have introduced new challenges and industry-wide revenue has stagnated over the past five years to reach $42.6 billion in 2024, including expected growth of 2.7% in 2024 alone. Staffing shortages predated the pandemic. Persistent labor shortages jeopardize primary care providers' ability to address demand, creating staff burnout and high turnover rates. Shortages resulting from significant retirements and a lack of residency slots have different impacts. Shortages have accelerated wage growth in some provinces, squeezing profit for some as others address the primary care shortage by raising pay to recruit new physicians. Demographic trends will continue to support rising demand for primary care services. Yet, increasing demand and elevated costs will pressure primary care practices to look for ways to address growing needs. Consolidation activity will ramp up as smaller providers join larger or team-based practices to expand capacity. Digital tools and telehealth will become an integrated part of healthcare delivery because they can lower costs, increase capacity and improve access to underserved areas. The exact adoption of telehealth will depend on how each province offers it. Growth in total health expenditure per capita has varied by province and telehealth adoption will likely proceed at differing paces due to funding levels and programs. The country's industry revenue will expand at a CAGR of 2.2% to an estimated $47.5 billion over the next five years.

In 2023, there were roughly 48.2 thousand family physicians across Canada. Most of these family doctors worked in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. As of that year, there were 17,178 such practitioners in the province of Ontario.

This study contains selected demographic, social, economic, public policy, and political comparative data for Switzerland, Canada, France, and Mexico for the decades of 1900-1960. Each dataset presents comparable data at the province or district level for each decade in the period. Various derived measures, such as percentages, ratios, and indices, constitute the bulk of these datasets. Data for Switzerland contain information for all cantons for each decennial year from 1900 to 1960. Variables describe population characteristics, such as the age of men and women, county and commune of origin, ratio of foreigners to Swiss, percentage of the population from other countries such as Germany, Austria and Lichtenstein, Italy, and France, the percentage of the population that were Protestants, Catholics, and Jews, births, deaths, infant mortality rates, persons per household, population density, the percentage of urban and agricultural population, marital status, marriages, divorces, professions, factory workers, and primary, secondary, and university students. Economic variables provide information on the number of corporations, factory workers, economic status, cultivated land, taxation and tax revenues, canton revenues and expenditures, federal subsidies, bankruptcies, bank account deposits, and taxable assets. Additional variables provide political information, such as national referenda returns, party votes cast in National Council elections, and seats in the cantonal legislature held by political groups such as the Peasants, Socialists, Democrats, Catholics, Radicals, and others. Data for Canada provide information for all provinces for the decades 1900-1960 on population characteristics, such as national origin, the net internal migration per 1,000 of native population, population density per square mile, the percentage of owner-occupied dwellings, the percentage of urban population, the percentage of change in population from preceding censuses, the percentage of illiterate population aged 5 years and older, and the median years of schooling. Economic variables provide information on per capita personal income, total provincial revenue and expenditure per capita, the percentage of the labor force employed in manufacturing and in agriculture, the average number of employees per manufacturing establishment, assessed value of real property per capita, the average number of acres per farm, highway and rural road mileage, transportation and communication, the number of telephones per 100 population, and the number of motor vehicles registered per 1,000 population. Additional variables on elections and votes are supplied as well. Data for France provide information for all departements for all legislative elections since 1936, the two presidential elections of 1965 and 1969, and several referenda held in the period since 1958. Social and economic data are provided for the years 1946, 1954, and 1962, while various policy data are presented for the period 1959-1962. Variables provide information on population characteristics, such as the percentages of population by age group, foreign-born, bachelors aged 20 to 59, divorced men aged 25 and older, elementary school students in private schools, elementary school students per million population from 1966 to 1967, the number of persons in household in 1962, infant mortality rates per million births, and the number of priests per 10,000 population in 1946. Economic variables focus on the Gross National Product (GNP), the revenue per capita per household, personal income per capita, income tax, the percentage of active population in industry, construction and public works, transportation, hotels, public administration, and other jobs, the percentage of skilled and unskilled industrial workers, the number of doctors per 10,000 population, the number of agricultural cooperatives in 1946, the average hectares per farm, the percentage of farms cultivated by the owner, tenants, and sharecroppers, the number of workhorses, cows, and oxen per 100 hectares of farmland in 1946, and the percentages of automobiles per 1,000 population, radios per 100 homes, and cinema seats per 1,000 population. Data are also provided on the percentage of Communists (PCF), Socialists, Radical Socialists, Conservatives, Gaullists, Moderates, Poujadists, Independents, Turnouts, and other political groups and p

The amount of provincial/territorial government spending per capita in Canada is highly dependent on territory or region. It was forecasted that in 2024, Nunavut would have the highest government health expenditures per capita among all territories and provinces with some ****** Canadian dollars being spent on health care per capita. Ontario, on the other hand, had one of the lowest government health expenditures per capita forecasted for 2024 with just ***** Canadian dollars being spent per person, less than a third of Nunavut. Health spending in Canada Canada is one of the countries with the highest health expenditures globally. Other countries include the U.S., Germany, and France. Health care spending in Canada, much like the rest of the world, has been increasing. Recent data suggests that hospitals, drugs, and physicians account for the largest proportions of health care spending in Canada. Canadian medication costs Despite being one of the top health expenses in Canada, the expenditures on drugs as a percentage of the total health spending in Canada has actually decreased over time. There are several drug classes that have exceeded others in terms of spending. Tumor necrosis factor alpha inhibitors, antivirals for hepatitis C, and anti-neovascularization agents were the drug classes that accounted for the largest proportions of total public drug program spending in 2022. Alongside the increased spending in prescription drugs in Canada, non-prescription drug spending has also increased in Canada.

This graph shows the number of physicians in diagnostic radiology in Canada per 100,000 population, in 2019, by province. In that year, there were *** physicians in diagnostic radiology per every 100,000 population in Ontario.

This statistic depicts the percentage of Canadians that visited their primary physician a select number of times within the past year as of 2018. According to data provided by Ipsos, ** percent of respondents visited their primary care physician ***** times per year or more.

In 2023, the United States had the highest per capita health expenditure among OECD countries. At that time, per capita health expenditure in the U.S. amounted over ****** U.S. dollars, significantly higher than in Switzerland, the country with the second-highest per capita health expenditure. Norway, Germany and Austria are also within the top five countries with the highest per capita health expenditure. The United States also spent the highest share of it’s gross domestic product on health care, with **** percent of its GDP spent on health care services. Health Expenditure in the U.S. The United States is the highest spending country worldwide when it comes to health care. In 2022, total health expenditure in the U.S. exceeded **** trillion dollars. Expenditure as a percentage of GDP is projected to increase to approximately ** percent by the year 2031. Distribution of Health Expenditure in the U.S. Health expenditure in the United States is spread out across multiple categories such as nursing home facilities, home health care, and prescription drugs. As of 2022, the majority of health expenditure in the United States was spent on hospital care, accounting for a bit less than *** third of all health spending. Hospital care was followed by spending on physician and clinical services which accounted for ** percent of overall health expenditure.

Canada's healthcare system is supported by a vast network of hospitals, with 1,087 facilities spread across the country as of 2024. Ontario leads the way with 319 hospitals, reflecting its status as the most populous province. This extensive infrastructure plays a crucial role in delivering healthcare services to Canadians, contributing to the nation's commitment to universal health coverage. Hospital infrastructure and expenditure The density of hospital beds has been decreasing over time. In 1980, there were 6.75 hospital beds per thousand inhabitants, but by 2022, this figure had dropped to 2.53 beds per thousand population. Despite this reduction, healthcare expenditures remain significant, with hospitals accounting for 96 billion Canadian dollars in 2024. Physicians are also expected to account for nearly 50 billion Canadian dollars in health expenditures in the same year. Patient care and common procedures The average length of hospital stay in Canada has remained relatively stable in recent years, standing at 7.3 days in the fiscal year 2023 to 2024. This figure has fluctuated only slightly since 2010, with the shortest average stay recorded in 2017/18 at 6.8 days. In terms of procedures, caesarean section deliveries are the most common inpatient surgery, with 110,659 performed in 2023/24. This aligns with childbirth being the primary reason for hospital stays in Canada. Knee and hip replacements follow as the second and third most frequent inpatient surgeries, respectively, indicating a significant demand for orthopedic care among the Canadian population.

In 2023, U.S. national health expenditure as a share of its gross domestic product (GDP) reached 17.6 percent, this was an increase on the previous year. The United States has the highest health spending based on GDP share among developed countries. Both public and private health spending in the U.S. is much higher than other developed countries. Why the U.S. pays so much moreWhile private health spending in Canada stays at around three percent and in Germany under two percent of the gross domestic product, it is nearly nine percent in the United States. Another reason for high costs can be found in physicians’ salaries, which are much higher in the U.S. than in other wealthy countries. A general practitioner in the U.S. earns nearly twice as much as the average physician in other high-income countries. Additionally, medicine spending per capita is also significantly higher in the United States. Finally, inflated health care administration costs are another of the predominant factors which make health care spending in the U.S. out of proportion. It is important to state that Americans do not pay more because they have a higher health care utilization, but mainly because of higher prices. Expected developmentsBy 2031, it is expected that health care spending in the U.S. will reach nearly one fifth of the nation’s gross domestic product. Or in dollar-terms, health care expenditures will accumulate to about seven trillion U.S. dollars in total.

In 2023, there were 15,343 medically assisted deaths in Canada. Medical assistance in dying (MAID) became legal in Canada in June 2016, and since then, cases of MAID have increased every year. To be eligible for MAID, one must meet specific criteria and only a medical practitioner can assess for and provide MAID. How is medical assistance in dying carried out? In Canada, there are two methods of MAID available. One is clinician-assisted medical assistance in dying, in which a physician or nurse practitioner directly administers a substance to the patient which causes death. The second method is self-administered medical assistance in dying, in which a medical practitioner provides the patient with a drug that they take themselves to cause death. As of 2023, around 64 percent of medically assisted death practitioners in Canada for people whose natural death was reasonably foreseeable were in family medicine, while 12.6 percent were in palliative medicine and 11.6 percent in anaesthesiology. Why do people choose medical assistance in dying? One important criterion to be eligible for MAID in Canada is that one must have a grievous and irremediable medical condition. In 2022, around 63 percent of those who received MAID had cancer, while 19 percent suffered from a cardiovascular condition. Furthermore, 96 percent of those who received MAID in 2023 had lost the ability to engage in meaningful activities. The elderly account for the majority of medically assisted deaths in Canada, and in most cases, natural death is reasonably foreseeable.