Hospital employment by country
This dataset provides data on total hospital employment (ie. persons employed in general and specialty hospitals) by category: Physicians Professional nurses and midwives Associate professional nurses Healthcare assistants Other health service providers Other staff Data are presented by number of persons employed...
What the numbers show
Hospital employment is currently reported for 31 countries. The highest value is 27.62 Per 1 000 inhabitants in Switzerland; the lowest is 6.25 Per 1 000 inhabitants in North Macedonia.
The median across all reporting countries is 14.52 Per 1 000 inhabitants, and the mean is 15.33 Per 1 000 inhabitants.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 4.
Over the past decade 29 countries rose and 2 fell. The largest increase was in Chile (up 60.2%), and the largest decrease in Hungary (down 14.0%).
Hospital employment: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Switzerland | 27.62 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 15.5% | rising |
| 2 | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 24.18 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 11.8% | rising |
| 3 | Norway | 22.87 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 7.1% | falling |
| 4 | Denmark | 22.09 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 5.0% | flat |
| 5 | Malta | 21.58 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 7.6% | rising |
| 6 | United States of America | 21.48 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2022 | up 9.8% | rising |
| 7 | Iceland | 21.03 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2020 | up 11.0% | rising |
| 8 | France | 20.39 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 3.8% | rising |
| 9 | Germany | 18.98 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 18.3% | rising |
| 10 | Ukraine | 17.61 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2014 | down 1.1% | rising |
| 11 | Canada | 17.39 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 0.7% | rising |
| 12 | Belgium | 17.23 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2018 | up 0.6% | rising |
| 13 | Czechia | 16.82 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 25.1% | rising |
| 14 | Ireland | 16.15 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2025 | up 22.9% | rising |
| 15 | Finland | 15.86 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2025 | up 2.6% | falling |
| 16 | Spain | 14.52 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 25.4% | rising |
| 17 | Portugal | 14.39 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2023 | up 25.0% | rising |
| 18 | Austria | 14.08 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 6.1% | rising |
| 19 | Israel | 12.37 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2025 | up 15.7% | falling |
| 20 | Costa Rica | 12.26 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2023 | up 16.3% | rising |
| 21 | Italy | 11.94 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 14.3% | flat |
| 22 | Bulgaria | 11.42 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 14.8% | rising |
| 23 | Serbia | 11.06 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 18.4% | rising |
| 24 | Romania | 10.72 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 37.6% | rising |
| 25 | Greece | 10.43 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 16.8% | flat |
| 26 | Japan | 10.11 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 1986 | up 20.1% | rising |
| 27 | Hungary | 9.14 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | down 14.0% | flat |
| 28 | Chile | 9.02 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2025 | up 60.2% | rising |
| 29 | Montenegro | 8.85 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 25.9% | rising |
| 30 | Mexico | 7.52 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2024 | up 15.7% | rising |
| 31 | North Macedonia | 6.25 Per 1 000 inhabitants | 2020 | up 24.3% | rising |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
About this data
This dataset provides data on total hospital employment (ie. persons employed in general and specialty hospitals) by category: Physicians Professional nurses and midwives Associate professional nurses Healthcare assistants Other health service providers Other staff Data are presented by number of persons employed (head counts), and number of full-time equivalent (FTE) persons. Please refer to the Sources and Methods for detailed country-specific information.