As of 2019, the south Indian state of Kerala had the highest density of doctors of about 42 per ten thousand population in the country. However, Jharkhand had the least density of doctors in the country of about four doctors per ten thousand people in the state.

The number of medical doctors per 10,000 inhabitants was about nine across India in 2019. This was a significant decrease from 12 medical doctors per 10,000 population in 1991 in the south Asian country.

In financial year 2021 in India, there were around 9 doctors for every 10,000 inhabitants in the country. In comparison, there were around 17 nursing and midwifery personnel for every 10,000 inhabitants.

In 2021, there were approximately 2.56 doctors for every 1,000 inhabitants in South Korea. This was a slight increase compared to the preceding year. This ratio has increased steadily since 2000, with the exception of a slight drop in 2004. However, South Korea still has few doctors relative to its population. The OECD average was 3.3 doctors per 1,000 people, and among the full OECD member countries, only Mexico and Turkey had lower ratios. According to OECD data, key partners China, Brazil, India, South Africa, and Indonesia have ratios lower than Korea. At the other end of the spectrum is Austria with 5.48 doctors per 1,000 people, followed by Norway with 5.16 and Germany with 4.53. Shortage of medical staffs The Korean government officially declared a shortage of several thousand doctors across the nation and recommended the training of an additional 150 doctors every year to make up the shortfall. Furthermore, doctors of traditional Korean medicine are counted among the number of doctors, meaning there are even fewer doctors of modern medical sciences than official figures suggest. Yet there are several factors, such as resistance from doctors, preventing the government from simply increasing the number of medical graduates. Regional imbalances in the medical environmentSome experts refute the government’s claims that Korea faces a doctor shortage and point towards other factors. For example, Korea has a higher population density than other countries, meaning that the average Korean doctor meets with more patients than an Austrian or Norwegian one would. Indeed, half the population is concentrated in the Seoul Capital Area. Additionally, Koreans see doctors around 19 times a year on average, which is far more frequently than any other OECD nationals. Despite this, Korea spends a lower share of its GDP on medical expenditures than other OECD countries, implying that medical personnel do more work for less financial compensation. Regional disparities where doctors are concentrated in Seoul and other major cities is also an issue. The doctor-to-people ratio in Seoul is higher than the national ratio, and the same as the OECD average. Many argue that a shortage of nurses is a greater concern than an alleged shortage of doctors. While the number of trained nurses is adequate, many leave because of harsh working conditions.

As of 2019, the capital Indian territory of Delhi had the highest density of nurses and midwives of about 31 per ten thousand people in the country. However, Bihar had the least density of nurses and midwives in the country of about two per ten thousand people in the state.

India had about nine physicians per 10,000 individuals in the healthcare system in 2022. However, the number of nurses was around 17 per 10,000 individuals in the south east Asian country during that time period.

The countries with the highest density of hospital beds worldwide include Korea, Japan, Russia, and Germany. Japan has around 12.6 hospital beds per 1,000 population. On the other hand, the United States reported just 2.8 hospital beds per 1,000 population.

Hospital beds in the U.S.

Both the number of hospitals and the number of hospital beds in the U.S. have decreased in recent years. In 2022, there were an estimated 917 thousand hospital beds in the U.S. The largest proportion of hospitals in the U.S. have 500 or more beds, while the second largest proportion of hospitals had between 100 and 199 beds.

Hospital stays in the U.S.

Despite decreasing hospital bed density since 1975, the number of hospital admissions in the U.S. has increased since then, but has dropped since the COVID pandemic. The number of hospital admission per capita differed from state to state with rates highest in the District of Columbia.