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.

Austria leads the world in physician density with **** practicing doctors per thousand population in 2022, highlighting significant disparities in healthcare access globally. This stark contrast becomes evident when comparing Austria to countries like India, South Africa, and Indonesia, which have less than * physician per 1,000 people. Life expectancy and healthcare access Interestingly, countries with higher physician densities often correlate with higher life expectancies. Switzerland, for instance, boasts both a high physician density of **** per 1,000 people and the highest life expectancy globally at **** years. This relationship underscores the potential impact of accessible healthcare on population health. However, exceptions exist, as evidenced by the United States, where life expectancy has decreased in recent years despite having **** physicians per 1,000 people. Factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the opioid epidemic have contributed to this decline. Healthcare expenditure and physician density While physician density is an important metric, it does not always directly correlate with healthcare spending. The United States, for example, has the highest per capita health expenditure among OECD countries, spending over ****** U.S. dollars per person in 2023. This is significantly higher than countries with greater physician densities like Austria and Germany. The U.S. also allocates the largest share of its GDP to healthcare, at **** percent. The United States is an outlier regarding the correlation between healthcare spending, resources and health outcomes.

The average for 2020 based on 14 countries was 3.85 doctors per 1,000 people. The highest value was in Austria: 5.35 doctors per 1,000 people and the lowest value was in Hungary: 3.14 doctors per 1,000 people. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2021. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The lack of medical services in West Africa represents a serious issue in sanitary emergency. As of **********, different West African countries counted less than a doctor every 10,000 inhabitants. Especially, Sierra Leone had ***** physicians per 100,000 individuals, the lowest density of medical doctors in West Africa. Moreover, Burkina Faso was estimated to have only ** ventilators in the whole country for a population of almost ********** people.

The average number of doctors across the OECD countries in 2019 equaled to ** per 10,000 inhabitants. The member countries of OECD are mostly high-income countries, whereas Nigeria is an emerging economy and it belongs to countries with lower middle-incomes.

Afghanistan Physicians: per 1000 People data was reported at 0.254 Ratio in 2020. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.212 Ratio for 2019. Afghanistan Physicians: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 0.186 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2020, with 26 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.298 Ratio in 2014 and a record low of 0.035 Ratio in 1960. Afghanistan Physicians: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Afghanistan – Table AF.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Physicians include generalist and specialist medical practitioners.;World Health Organization's Global Health Workforce Statistics, OECD, supplemented by country data.;Weighted average;This is the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 3.c.1 [https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

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.

Syria SY: Physicians: per 1000 People data was reported at 1.546 Ratio in 2014. This records an increase from the previous number of 1.505 Ratio for 2010. Syria SY: Physicians: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 1.339 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2014, with 25 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.558 Ratio in 2005 and a record low of 0.185 Ratio in 1965. Syria SY: Physicians: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Syrian Arab Republic – Table SY.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Physicians include generalist and specialist medical practitioners.; ; World Health Organization's Global Health Workforce Statistics, OECD, supplemented by country data.; Weighted average;

This statistic depicts the countries with the lowest physicians density average worldwide for the period 2007-2016. As of that year, Niger was one of the countries with the lowest number of physicians per inhabitants. The African country was reported to have 0.0 physicians per 1,000 inhabitants.

Somalia SO: Physicians: per 1000 People data was reported at 0.029 Ratio in 2014. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.035 Ratio for 2010. Somalia SO: Physicians: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 0.037 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2014, with 12 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.071 Ratio in 1984 and a record low of 0.024 Ratio in 1960. Somalia SO: Physicians: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Somalia – Table SO.World Bank: Health Statistics. Physicians include generalist and specialist medical practitioners.; ; World Health Organization's Global Health Workforce Statistics, OECD, supplemented by country data.; Weighted average;

Mali ML: Physicians: per 1000 People data was reported at 0.085 Ratio in 2010. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.076 Ratio for 2009. Mali ML: Physicians: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 0.044 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2010, with 19 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.085 Ratio in 2010 and a record low of 0.014 Ratio in 1960. Mali ML: Physicians: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Mali – Table ML.World Bank: Health Statistics. Physicians include generalist and specialist medical practitioners.; ; World Health Organization's Global Health Workforce Statistics, OECD, supplemented by country data.; Weighted average;

Bangladesh BD: Physicians: per 1000 People data was reported at 0.670 Ratio in 2021. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.656 Ratio for 2020. Bangladesh BD: Physicians: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 0.326 Ratio from Dec 1965 (Median) to 2021, with 29 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.670 Ratio in 2021 and a record low of 0.119 Ratio in 1970. Bangladesh BD: Physicians: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Bangladesh – Table BD.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Physicians include generalist and specialist medical practitioners.;World Health Organization's Global Health Workforce Statistics, OECD, supplemented by country data.;Weighted average;This is the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 3.c.1 [https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

As of the end of 2020, there were around *** practicing physicians per 100,000 inhabitants in Japan, up from approximately *** in 2018. The total number of physicians engaging in medical care amounted to roughly ***** thousand in 2020. Despite keeping the highest numbers and density of hospitals worldwide, Japan is not included in the list of leading countries when it comes to the count and density of physicians. Japanese hospitals are, therefore, repeatedly said to be suffering from the shortage of physicians and other medical staff.

Profile of physicians

In 2020, the average age of all registered physicians in Japan was **** years old, indicating a constant increase in the last two decades. Of the total, around ** percent were female physicians. Tokushima Prefecture had the highest number of physicians among all ** prefectures, with about ***** physicians available per 100,000 population.

Physicians employed at hospitals

In Japan, medical facilities can be divided into two categories: hospitals and medical clinics. Japanese hospitals have facilities for the admission of ** or more inpatients, while medical clinics provide a smaller scale of services. In 2020, the number of physicians working at hospitals exceeded *** thousand, showing a continuous growth in recent years. In terms of specialty, the highest number of physicians, around ** thousand, were working at internal medicine departments in the hospitals. Roughly **** thousand were specializing in surgery.

China: Doctors per 1,000 people: The latest value from 2020 is 2.36 doctors per 1,000 people, an increase from 2.24 doctors per 1,000 people in 2019. In comparison, the world average is 3.56 doctors per 1,000 people, based on data from 27 countries. Historically, the average for China from 1978 to 2020 is 1.39 doctors per 1,000 people. The minimum value, 0.63 doctors per 1,000 people, was reached in 1978 while the maximum of 2.36 doctors per 1,000 people was recorded in 2020.

Germany DE: Physicians: per 1000 People data was reported at 4.518 Ratio in 2021. This records an increase from the previous number of 4.459 Ratio for 2020. Germany DE: Physicians: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 3.487 Ratio from Dec 1991 (Median) to 2021, with 31 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4.518 Ratio in 2021 and a record low of 2.762 Ratio in 1991. Germany DE: Physicians: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Germany – Table DE.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Physicians include generalist and specialist medical practitioners.;World Health Organization's Global Health Workforce Statistics, OECD, supplemented by country data.;Weighted average;This is the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 3.c.1 [https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

In 2025, there were approximately **** medical doctors per 1,000 people in Brazil, an increase compared to the physician density of about **** doctors per 1,000 inhabitants reported a year earlier. That same year, the number of doctors registered in the South American country totaled about ******* professionals, most of them based in São Paulo.

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.

Djibouti DJ: Physicians: per 1000 People data was reported at 0.229 Ratio in 2014. This stayed constant from the previous number of 0.229 Ratio for 2010. Djibouti DJ: Physicians: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 0.191 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2014, with 13 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.284 Ratio in 1970 and a record low of 0.131 Ratio in 1999. Djibouti DJ: Physicians: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Djibouti – Table DJ.World Bank: Health Statistics. Physicians include generalist and specialist medical practitioners.; ; World Health Organization's Global Health Workforce Statistics, OECD, supplemented by country data.; Weighted average;

Belarus BY: Physicians: per 1000 People data was reported at 4.470 Ratio in 2020. This records an increase from the previous number of 4.434 Ratio for 2019. Belarus BY: Physicians: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 3.300 Ratio from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2020, with 21 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 5.051 Ratio in 2015 and a record low of 2.896 Ratio in 1991. Belarus BY: Physicians: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Belarus – Table BY.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Physicians include generalist and specialist medical practitioners.;World Health Organization's Global Health Workforce Statistics, OECD, supplemented by country data.;Weighted average;This is the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 3.c.1 [https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

Italy: Doctors per 1,000 people: The latest value from 2021 is 4.13 doctors per 1,000 people, an increase from 4 doctors per 1,000 people in 2020. In comparison, the world average is 3.93 doctors per 1,000 people, based on data from 12 countries. Historically, the average for Italy from 2000 to 2021 is 3.82 doctors per 1,000 people. The minimum value, 3.44 doctors per 1,000 people, was reached in 2000 while the maximum of 4.13 doctors per 1,000 people was recorded in 2021.

Laos LA: Physicians: per 1000 People data was reported at 0.491 Ratio in 2014. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.447 Ratio for 2013. Laos LA: Physicians: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 0.277 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2014, with 16 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.729 Ratio in 1985 and a record low of 0.020 Ratio in 1960. Laos LA: Physicians: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Laos – Table LA.World Bank: Health Statistics. Physicians include generalist and specialist medical practitioners.; ; World Health Organization's Global Health Workforce Statistics, OECD, supplemented by country data.; Weighted average;