{"version":1,"asset_type":"statistical_series","data_type":"time_series","slug":"europe-physicians-by-country","url":"https://apiardata.com/statistics/europe-physicians-by-country","html_url":"https://apiardata.com/statistics/europe-physicians-by-country/","title":"Doctors per 100,000 Inhabitants in Europe by Country (2024)","description":"Practising physicians per 100,000 inhabitants across 32 European countries in 2024: 627 in Greece down to 285 in Montenegro, with a median of 420. Eurostat figures.","domain":"health","category":"Health","keywords":["Health","Health Workforce","Physicians","Europe","Eurostat"],"publisher":"Eurostat","frequency":"Annual","temporal_coverage":"2014/2024","unit":"per 100,000 inhabitants","last_updated":"2026-07-25","last_updated_text":"25 July 2026","data_as_of":"2024","variable_measured":"Practising physicians per 100,000 inhabitants","license":"https://apiardata.com/data-license","is_accessible_for_free":true,"sources":[{"name":"Eurostat","url":"https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/HLTH_RS_PRS2/default/table"}],"meta":[{"label":"Frequency","value":"Annual"},{"label":"Reference year","value":"2024"},{"label":"Coverage","value":"2014–2024"},{"label":"Countries","value":"32"},{"label":"Last updated","value":"25 July 2026"}],"kpis":[{"label":"Average of the panel (2024)","value":"425","unit":"physicians per 100,000 inhabitants","trend":{"direction":"up","value":"+8 vs 2023"}},{"label":"Highest","value":"627","unit":"Greece"},{"label":"Lowest","value":"285","unit":"Montenegro"},{"label":"Countries ranked","value":"32","unit":"with a published figure"}],"series":[{"key":"value","label":"Average practising physicians per 100,000 inhabitants"}],"observation_count":11,"observations":[{"period":"2014","value":349},{"period":"2015","value":352},{"period":"2016","value":360},{"period":"2017","value":367},{"period":"2018","value":373},{"period":"2019","value":383},{"period":"2020","value":391},{"period":"2021","value":404},{"period":"2022","value":408},{"period":"2023","value":417},{"period":"2024","value":425}],"table":{"columns":[{"key":"rank","label":"#"},{"key":"country","label":"Country"},{"key":"value","label":"per 100,000 inhabitants"},{"key":"yoyChange","label":"Change vs 2023"}],"rows":[{"rank":"1","country":"Greece","value":"627","yoyChange":"+2"},{"rank":"2","country":"Italy","value":"575","yoyChange":"+11"},{"rank":"3","country":"Austria","value":"564","yoyChange":"+12"},{"rank":"4","country":"Cyprus","value":"550","yoyChange":"+15"},{"rank":"5","country":"Norway","value":"507","yoyChange":"+10"},{"rank":"6","country":"Germany","value":"475","yoyChange":"+9"},{"rank":"7","country":"Bulgaria","value":"467","yoyChange":"+4"},{"rank":"8","country":"Lithuania","value":"467","yoyChange":"+5"},{"rank":"9","country":"Denmark","value":"466","yoyChange":"+11"},{"rank":"10","country":"Iceland","value":"466","yoyChange":"+16"},{"rank":"11","country":"Sweden","value":"466","yoyChange":"+3"},{"rank":"12","country":"Switzerland","value":"466","yoyChange":"+11"},{"rank":"13","country":"Spain","value":"464","yoyChange":"+25"},{"rank":"14","country":"Malta","value":"458","yoyChange":"+3"},{"rank":"15","country":"Portugal","value":"431","yoyChange":"+8"},{"rank":"16","country":"Czechia","value":"429","yoyChange":"+8"},{"rank":"17","country":"Croatia","value":"410","yoyChange":"+9"},{"rank":"18","country":"Luxembourg","value":"409","yoyChange":"+8"},{"rank":"19","country":"Netherlands","value":"396","yoyChange":"+1"},{"rank":"20","country":"France","value":"394","yoyChange":"+5"},{"rank":"21","country":"Ireland","value":"388","yoyChange":"+9"},{"rank":"22","country":"Poland","value":"386","yoyChange":"+12"},{"rank":"23","country":"Romania","value":"381","yoyChange":"+9"},{"rank":"24","country":"Hungary","value":"372","yoyChange":"+9"},{"rank":"25","country":"Finland","value":"362","yoyChange":"+8"},{"rank":"26","country":"Estonia","value":"358","yoyChange":"+10"},{"rank":"27","country":"Slovenia","value":"357","yoyChange":"+7"},{"rank":"28","country":"Latvia","value":"340","yoyChange":"+6"},{"rank":"29","country":"Serbia","value":"335","yoyChange":"+6"},{"rank":"30","country":"Belgium","value":"334","yoyChange":"-3"},{"rank":"31","country":"Liechtenstein","value":"331","yoyChange":"-3"},{"rank":"32","country":"Montenegro","value":"285","yoyChange":"-1"}]},"qa":[{"question":"Which European country has the most doctors per capita?","answer":"Greece, at 627 practising physicians per 100,000 inhabitants in 2024, ahead of Italy, Austria and Cyprus. Treat the leading figure with some care: reporting concepts vary across this series, and a country counting doctors licensed to practise rather than the narrower practising category will look better staffed than it is."},{"question":"Which European country has the fewest doctors per capita?","answer":"Montenegro at 285, with Liechtenstein, Belgium and Serbia also at the foot of the table. Belgium at 334 is the one to read as policy rather than as scarcity of means: it has capped entry to medical training through a national quota for roughly three decades, and the effect on stock is visible here. Liechtenstein's 331 reflects a population that uses Swiss and Austrian hospitals rather than a shortage."},{"question":"Why is the range for doctors so much narrower than for nurses?","answer":"Physician density converges because its inputs are portable and slow-moving: medical qualifications are mutually recognised across the EU, doctors move to where pay and conditions are better, and training numbers are set years in advance under professional supervision. Nurse establishment is an annual budget decision made hospital by hospital, so it tracks fiscal capacity directly. In this table 18 of the 32 countries sit within 50 per 100,000 of the median; the equivalent nursing table spreads by a factor of more than ten."}]}