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 March of 2025.

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.

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 5.9 consultations per capita in 2008.

In 2024, there were over 318 thousand medical practitioners employed in the United Kingdom. This is an increase from 2010 when there were 227 thousand doctors in the UK. Between these years, the number of medical practitioners has experienced little fluctuations with large increases since 2020 (which could be due to temporary emergency registration measures taken up during the pandemic). Patterns of employment in the UK health sector The number of health professionals overall in the UK stood at 1.7 million in 2024, also a large increase in the number of workers from 2010. The number of nurses in the UK has also been increasing since 2010, amounting to 704 thousand in 2023. Impact of Brexit Doctors who qualified in a country from the European Economic Area (EEA) took up almost 10 percent share of the total doctors registered in the UK in 2023. This is the lowest proportion since 2011, although the decline had started prior to the UK’s decision to leave the EU.

In 2023, there were approximately 227 thousand healthcare physicians employed in the United Kingdom (UK). Since 2000, the number of physicians has increased by roughly 100 thousand, steadily growing year-on-year. This figure includes all physicians who provide services for patients, including specialized physicians.

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.

In 2021, Finland had the highest number of practicing nurses per capita, for every 1,000 population there were 19 practicing nurses. This is followed by Switzerland and Norway. This statistic portrays the number of practicing nurses in selected countries as of 2021, per 1,000 population.

In 2021, there were over 65 thousand general practitioners (GP) practicing in France, the highest number recorded in Europe, followed by Germany with approximately 61 thousand GPs and the Turkey with 60 thousand.

Visiting the doctor

In 2018, a survey of French individuals revealed that 83 percent of respondents consult with a physician at least once a year. Furthermore, 46 percent of those will see their doctor three times or more in a year. In Great Britain, the share of respondents who visit a physician at least once a year is lower than in France with 66 percent going at least once.

Comparisons of other healthcare personnel

Germany had the highest total number of employees in health and social care in Europe in 2021 with over 6.3 million individuals working in this sector, followed by the UK with approximately 4.2 million and France with roughly four million employees in the health and social care sector.

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.

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 13,432 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 16.5 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 four trillion dollars. Expenditure as a percentage of GDP is projected to increase to approximately 20 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 one third of all health spending. Hospital care was followed by spending on physician and clinical services which accounted for 20 percent of overall health expenditure.

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 16 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 38 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.