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.

Among OECD countries in 2023, South Korea had the highest rate of yearly visits to a doctor per capita. On average, South Koreans 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 one of 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.

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.

In 2023 the countries with the most doctors per capita was Cuba, the country with the highest physician density. There were 84 physicians per every 10,000 of Cuba's population, however, the most recent data was from 2021. Other countries with high physician density were mostly found in Europe, including Monaco, Greece, Belgium, and Lithuania.

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.

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;

In Mexico, the number of practicing doctors amounted to **** professionals per 1,000 inhabitants in 2023, an increase compared to the figures reported a year earlier when there were **** practicing physicians per every thousand people. During 2022, the number of physicians in Mexico totaled approximately ******* professionals. Density of doctors worldwide In a global comparison, Mexico ranks in a 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 ** ******* 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.

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/].

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/].

Among presented Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, Slovakia had the highest number of oncologists per one million population, at 76 as of 2022. Hungary ranked second, with an oncology physician density of 74 per million population.

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/].

This dataset provides values for MEDICAL DOCTORS reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

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

In 2023, there were approximately 2.66 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. An attempt to increase the number of medical student admissions quotas in February 2024 led to an ongoing strike of healthcare workers and conflict between medical professionals and the government. 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 over 21 times per 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.

In 2023, there were almost ** doctors per 10,000 population in Russia. The density of doctors in the country has gradually increased in recent years after a decline in 2015, when the figure fell to around ** medical professionals per 10,000 residents. How many doctors work in Russia? The number of doctors in the country grew by ****** between 2015 and 2023. In total, approximately ******* physicians were employed in healthcare in Russia during that year. Over ******* medical doctors worked in the public sector, including educational, scientific, cultural, healthcare, and social services organizations, in 2022. Importance of doctors’ density during COVID-19 During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, countries with a low density of physicians have been suffering from limited healthcare resources and unequal access to medical assistance, as highlighted by the International Labor Organization Department of Statistics (Ilostat). Russia is the only non-high-income country among those with the highest doctors’ density worldwide. There were five infectious disease specialists per 100,000 inhabitants in the country as of April 2020.

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.

Non-expenditure health care data provide information on institutions providing health care in countries, on resources used and on output produced in the framework of health care provision.

Data on health care form a major element of public health information as they describe the capacities available for different types of health care provision as well as potential 'bottlenecks' observed. The quantity and quality of health care services provided and the work sharing established between the different institutions are a subject of ongoing debate in all countries. Sustainability - continuously providing the necessary monetary and personal resources needed - and meeting the challenges of ageing societies are the primary perspectives used when analysing and using the data.

The resource-related data refer to both human and technical resources, i.e. they relate to:

• Health care staff: 'manpower' active in the health care sector (doctors, dentists, nurses, etc.);
• Heath workforce migration: migration movements of doctors and nurses;
• Health care facilities: technical capacity dimensions (hospital beds, beds in nursing and residential care facilities, etc.).

Annual national and regional data are provided in absolute numbers and in population-standardised rates (per 100 000 inhabitants).

Wherever applicable, the definitions and classifications of the System of Health Accounts (SHA) are followed, e.g. International Classification for Health Accounts - Providers of health care (ICHA-HP). For hospital discharges, the International Shortlist for Hospital Morbidity Tabulation (ISHMT) is used.

Health care data on resources are largely based on administrative data sources in the countries. Therefore, they reflect the country-specific way of organising health care and may not always be completely comparable.

Among the countries depicted, Cuba registered the highest density of physicians in 2018, with over *** doctors per 1,000 inhabitants. Meanwhile, Mexico and Brazil reported **** and **** physicians per 1,000 population, respectively.

Angola registered **** medical doctors per 1,000 population in 2019. That year, the country had over ***** doctors. During the period observed, the proportion of professionals to the population improved.

Iran IR: Physicians: per 1000 People data was reported at 1.491 Ratio in 2014. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.890 Ratio for 2010. Iran IR: Physicians: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 0.361 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2014, with 14 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.491 Ratio in 2014 and a record low of 0.244 Ratio in 1960. Iran IR: Physicians: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Iran – Table IR.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;