Ageing healthcare workforce - Regions — Active physicians by country
<p style="text-align: justify;">This dataset presents indicators on physicians ageing across large regions (TL2), and small regions (TL3) where available.</p> <p><strong>Data definition and source</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>Doctors</strong> (physicians) are usually generalists who assume responsibility for the...
What the numbers show
Ageing healthcare workforce - Regions — Active physicians is currently reported for 44 countries. The highest value is 6.74 Per 1 000 inhabitants in Greece; the lowest is 0.69 Per 1 000 inhabitants in Costa Rica.
The median across all reporting countries is 3.9 Per 1 000 inhabitants, and the mean is 3.91 Per 1 000 inhabitants.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 10.
Over the past decade 42 countries rose and 2 fell. The largest increase was in Chile (up 186.0%), and the largest decrease in Mexico (down 41.0%).
Ageing healthcare workforce - Regions — Active physicians: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greece | 6.74 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 14.8% | rising |
| 2 | Portugal | 5.98 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 35.3% | rising |
| 3 | Italy | 5.65 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2023 | up 44.9% | rising |
| 4 | Austria | 5.64 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 12.4% | rising |
| 5 | Montenegro | 5.46 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2019 | up 30.6% | rising |
| 6 | Norway | 5.07 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 14.4% | rising |
| 7 | Russia | 4.89 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2019 | down 2.0% | rising |
| 8 | Czechia | 4.84 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 26.4% | rising |
| 9 | Switzerland | 4.73 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 14.5% | rising |
| 10 | Lithuania | 4.67 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 8.6% | rising |
| 11 | Germany | 4.66 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2023 | up 15.3% | rising |
| 12 | Spain | 4.64 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 22.1% | rising |
| 13 | Sweden | 4.63 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2023 | up 14.6% | rising |
| 13 | Bulgaria | 4.63 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2023 | up 15.5% | rising |
| 15 | Denmark | 4.56 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2023 | up 18.4% | rising |
| 16 | Hungary | 4.51 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 13.6% | rising |
| 17 | Australia | 4.49 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 23.4% | rising |
| 18 | Cyprus | 4.2 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2019 | up 49.5% | rising |
| 19 | Croatia | 4.1 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 29.3% | rising |
| 20 | Ireland | 4.09 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2025 | up 30.3% | rising |
| 21 | Malta | 3.98 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2018 | up 30.5% | rising |
| 22 | Netherlands | 3.91 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2023 | up 18.1% | rising |
| 23 | Iceland | 3.89 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2019 | up 6.6% | rising |
| 24 | Poland | 3.86 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 67.1% | rising |
| 25 | Romania | 3.81 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 41.1% | rising |
| 26 | Estonia | 3.58 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 6.5% | rising |
| 27 | Slovenia | 3.57 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 28.9% | rising |
| 28 | Finland | 3.5 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2021 | up 7.4% | rising |
| 28 | Israel | 3.5 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2023 | up 19.9% | falling |
| 30 | France | 3.44 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2025 | up 3.6% | flat |
| 31 | Latvia | 3.41 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 5.9% | rising |
| 32 | New Zealand | 3.4 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2019 | up 37.7% | rising |
| 33 | Serbia | 3.28 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2023 | up 5.8% | rising |
| 34 | United States | 3.23 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2022 | up 30.8% | falling |
| 35 | Belgium | 3.02 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2023 | up 2.0% | falling |
| 36 | Luxembourg | 2.98 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2017 | up 11.2% | rising |
| 37 | United Kingdom | 2.95 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2019 | up 12.2% | rising |
| 38 | Peru | 2.83 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2023 | up 34.8% | rising |
| 39 | Japan | 2.7 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 14.4% | rising |
| 40 | Chile | 2.46 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2022 | up 186.0% | volatile |
| 41 | Canada | 2.41 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 6.6% | rising |
| 42 | Colombia | 2.34 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2020 | up 35.3% | rising |
| 43 | Mexico | 1.02 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2023 | down 41.0% | rising |
| 44 | Costa Rica | 0.69 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2021 | up 30.2% | rising |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- Slovak Republic 3.95 Per 1 000 inhabitants
- Korea 2.74 Per 1 000 inhabitants
- China (People's Republic of) 2.04 Per 1 000 inhabitants
About this data
<p style="text-align: justify;">This dataset presents indicators on physicians ageing across large regions (TL2), and small regions (TL3) where available.</p> <p><strong>Data definition and source</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>Doctors</strong> (physicians) are usually generalists who assume responsibility for the provision of continuing care to individuals and families, or specialists such as paediatricians, obstetricians/gynaecologists, psychiatrists, medical specialists and surgical specialists.</li> <li><strong>Age groups cover</strong> total, 55–64, and 65 years and over. </li> </ul> <p>Data is collected from Eurostat (reg_hlth) for EU countries and via delegates of the OECD Working Party on Territorial Indicators (WPTI), as well as from national statistical offices' websites.</p> <p><strong>Definition of regions</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Regions are subnational units below national boundaries. OECD countries have two regional levels: large regions (territorial level 2 or TL2) and small regions (territorial level 3 or TL3). For more information, see the OECD Territorial grid <a href="https://webfs-cfe.oecd.org/files/.Stat/region/OECD_territorial-grid_TL2024.pdf">(pdf)</a> and the OECD Territorial Correspondence Table <a href="https://webfs-cfe.oecd.org/files/.Stat/region/OECD%20Territorial%20correspondence%20-%20TL2024c.xlsx">(xlsx)</a>. </p> <p><strong>Cite this dataset</strong></p> <p>OECD Regions, Cities and Local Areas database <a href="http://oe.cd/geostats">http://oe.cd/geostats</a>.</p> <p><strong>Further information</strong></p> <ul> <li><a href="https://regions-cities-atlas.oecd.org/">OECD Regions and Cities Statistical Atlas</a> </li> <li><a href="https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/oecd-regions-and-cities-at-a-glance-2024_f42db3bf-en.html">OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance</a></li> </ul> <p>For questions and/or comments, please email <a href="mailto:RegionStat@oecd.org">RegionStat@oecd.org</a>.</p>