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.

Physicians (per 1,000 people) in United Kingdom was reported at 3.174 in 2022, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. United Kingdom - Physicians - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on August of 2025.

The average for 2020 based on 18 countries was 3.93 doctors per 1,000 people. The highest value was in Austria: 5.35 doctors per 1,000 people and the lowest value was in the United Kingdom: 3.03 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 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.

United Kingdom UK: Physicians: per 1000 People data was reported at 2.825 Ratio in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 2.807 Ratio for 2015. United Kingdom UK: Physicians: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 1.400 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 51 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2.825 Ratio in 2016 and a record low of 0.800 Ratio in 1960. United Kingdom UK: Physicians: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.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;

This statistic displays the number of doctors consultations per capita in the United Kingdom from 2003 to 2009. The number of doctors consultations per capita has fluctuated during the period concerned, peaking at *** consultations per capita in 2008.

Portugal stands out as the European country with the highest density of general practitioners, boasting 2.86 GPs per 1,000 inhabitants in 2022. This figure is more than double that of many other European nations, highlighting significant disparities in primary care availability across the continent. Physician distribution across Europe While Portugal leads in GP density, other European countries show varying levels of physician availability. Germany, for instance, had the highest absolute number of practicing physicians in Europe in 2021, with nearly 377,000 doctors. Italy, France, the UK, and Spain followed closely behind. Hospital employment of physicians The employment of physicians in hospitals also varies significantly across Europe. In 2021, Germany employed 212,000 doctors in hospitals, showcasing its robust healthcare infrastructure. In contrast, Iceland had just over 1,000 hospital-employed physicians, reflecting the vast differences in population and healthcare system size among European nations.

This metric is derived by the LGA (Local Government Association) from the CQC (Care Quality Commission's) Care Directory file. The file contains a complete list of the places in England where care is regulated by CQC. Using the National Statistics Postcode Lookup, we have counted the number of doctor/GP practices located in an area and then created a crude rate per 1,000 resident population.

These services involve doctors working in premises, or a room, designated for medical consultation or minor medical treatments. Often the doctor will complete medical consultations, including physical examination and simple physiological measurement (such as blood pressure tests). They will discuss diagnosis and treatment options and may prescribe medicines for the person to take at home.

They may also undertake minor invasive investigations or procedures, such as conscious endoscopy, in a treatment room designed for this purpose. There may be other healthcare professionals, for example practice nurses, supporting the work of the doctor.

Examples of services that fit under this category:

Independent doctors consulting rooms NHS GP practices Slimming clinics Early medical abortion clinics Travel vaccination services Polyclinics

Data is extracted once a quarter and provides a snapshot in time. It should be noted that due to changes to postcodes, a small proportion cannot be matched to the latest National Statistics Postcode Lookup file and are therefore excluded from these figures.

Data is Powered by LG Inform Plus and automatically checked for new data on the 4th of each month.

This metric is derived by the LGA (Local Government Association) from the CQC (Care Quality Commission's) Care Directory file. The file contains a complete list of the places in England where care is regulated by CQC. Using the National Statistics Postcode Lookup, we have counted the number of doctor/GP practices located in an area and then created a crude rate per 1,000 resident population.

These services involve doctors working in premises, or a room, designated for medical consultation or minor medical treatments. Often the doctor will complete medical consultations, including physical examination and simple physiological measurement (such as blood pressure tests). They will discuss diagnosis and treatment options and may prescribe medicines for the person to take at home.

They may also undertake minor invasive investigations or procedures, such as conscious endoscopy, in a treatment room designed for this purpose. There may be other healthcare professionals, for example practice nurses, supporting the work of the doctor.

Examples of services that fit under this category:

Independent doctors consulting rooms NHS GP practices Slimming clinics Early medical abortion clinics Travel vaccination services Polyclinics

Data is extracted once a quarter and provides a snapshot in time. It should be noted that due to changes to postcodes, a small proportion cannot be matched to the latest National Statistics Postcode Lookup file and are therefore excluded from these figures.

Data is Powered by LG Inform Plus and automatically checked for new data on the 3rd of each month.

In 2022, Switzerland had the highest number of practicing nurses per capita, that is, for every 1,000 population there were 18 practicing nurses in Switzerland. This is followed by Norway and Iceland. This statistic portrays the number of practicing nurses in selected countries as of 2021, per 1,000 population.

The United Kingdom has seen a significant increase in the number of general practitioners (GPs) over the past two decades, reaching nearly 54,000 in 2023. This figure represents a slight decrease from the previous year, which marked the highest number of GPs in the country since 2000. Gender dynamics in general practice A notable trend in the UK's GP workforce is the growing representation of female doctors. In NHS England, female GPs outnumbered their male counterparts, with over 20,000 female GPs compared to approximately 17,800 male GPs as of December 2024. This shift is not limited to England, as Scotland and Wales have also seen a rise in female GPs. In Scotland, there were about 3,200 female GPs compared to 1,900 male GPs in 2023, while Wales reported 1,334 female GPs and 996 male GPs in 2024. Comparison with other European countries While the UK has made strides in increasing its GP workforce, it still ranks third in Europe in terms of the number of practicing GPs. France leads with 65,469 GPs, followed by Germany with 60,601 in 2021. It's worth noting that the UK experienced a spike in GP numbers in 2020, likely due to emergency measures implemented during the early stages of the pandemic, including the introduction of a temporary emergency register and earlier registration of graduates.

Data on the top universities for Medical and Health in 2025, including disciplines such as Medicine and Dentistry, and Other Health Subjects.

This publication shows a count of written complaints made by (or on behalf of) patients, received between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022 in England. The two data collections are: i) KO41a – NHS Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) ii) KO41b – Primary Care (GP and Dental)

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.

In 2021, there were 27 medical students who graduated per 100,000 population in Latvia, the highest in OECD countries. In comparison there were just 13 graduates of medicine per 100,000 population in the UK, less than half of the top countries. This statistic depicts the number of medical graduates per 100,000 inhabitants in OECD countries in 2021.

Among OECD member countries, the United States had the highest percentage of gross domestic product spent on health care as of 2023. The U.S. spent nearly ** percent of its GDP on health care services. Germany, France and Japan followed the U.S. with distinctly smaller percentages. The United States had both significantly higher private and public spending on health compared with other developed countries. Why compare OECD countries?OECD stands for Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. It is an economic organization consisting of ** members, mostly high-income countries and committed to democratic principles and market economy. This makes OECD statistics more comparable than statistics of developed and undeveloped countries. Health economics is an important matter for the OECD, even more since increasing health costs and an aging population have become an issue for many developed countries. Health costs in the U.S.  A higher GDP share spent on health care does not automatically lead to a better functioning health system. In the case of the U.S., high spending is mainly because of higher costs and prices, not due to higher utilization. For example, physicians’ salaries are much higher in the U.S. than in other comparable countries. A doctor in the U.S. earns almost twice as much as the average physician in Germany. Pharmaceutical spending per capita is also distinctly higher in the United States. Furthermore, the U.S. also spends more on health administrative costs compare to other wealthy countries.