TOP 10 Countries by Physicians per 1,000 (2025)
Top 10 countries by physicians per 1,000 people (2025): workforce density and health system capacity
The number of physicians per 1,000 people is one of the most widely used indicators of health system capacity. It does not capture everything that matters for care quality, but it tells us how densely a country’s population is served by doctors and how much clinical time is available per person. In 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) put the global average density of physicians at about 17.2 per 10,000 people—or roughly 1.7 doctors per 1,000. That global average hides an enormous gap between countries with fewer than 1 doctor per 1,000 residents and those with more than 8 or 9.
For this 2025 overview, we use the latest publicly compiled data (mainly 2020–2023) on “Medical doctors per 10,000 people” and convert them to a per-1,000 basis. The most recent ranking of countries with the highest doctor densities identifies the following Top 10:
- Cuba
- Monaco
- Seychelles
- Greece
- Belgium
- Lithuania
- Portugal
- Georgia
- Austria
- Russia
All of these countries report more than 5 physicians per 1,000 residents when expressed in per-1,000 terms, far above the global mean of around 1.7 and well above many low- and middle-income countries where doctor density is still below 1 per 1,000.
What “physicians per 1,000 people” actually measures
The World Bank and WHO define physicians as licensed generalist and specialist medical practitioners. In most datasets, the indicator counts practising doctors who are actively providing care, although some countries also include doctors who are licensed but not practising. The formal indicator is usually reported as “physicians (per 1,000 people)” or “medical doctors per 10,000 population”; it is calculated by dividing the number of physicians by the total population and scaling the result.
In this article, all values are expressed as physicians per 1,000 people. Where the original source uses per-10,000 figures, we simply divide by 10. That conversion does not change the ranking but makes it easier to compare with benchmarks such as the OECD average of about 3.7 doctors per 1,000 people in 2021.
Key idea: a high number of physicians per 1,000 people is a strong, but not sufficient, signal of capacity. It must be interpreted together with the distribution of doctors (rural vs. urban), skill mix (nurses, midwives, allied health) and how efficiently the system uses this workforce.
Global context in 2025: deep inequality in doctor density
Recent WHO and World Bank data, synthesised by Our World in Data and other platforms, highlight three structural facts about global physician density:
- High-income countries typically have between 3 and 6 doctors per 1,000 people, with outliers above 8–9.
- Low-income countries often have fewer than 0.5 doctors per 1,000, sometimes much less—meaning tens of thousands of residents may rely on a tiny medical workforce.
- The global average sits near 1.7 doctors per 1,000 people, but this is simply the midpoint of a very unequal distribution.
These gaps are reinforced by migration. Many doctors trained in low- and middle-income countries move to higher-income systems in search of better pay, training and working conditions. At the same time, richer countries face ageing populations and rising chronic disease burdens, which increase demand for medical services and keep recruitment pressures high.
Who leads the world on physicians per 1,000 people?
Based on the latest 2025-style compilation of “doctors per capita” data, the Top 10 countries by medical doctors per 10,000 people (converted here to per-1,000) are approximately:
- Cuba: about 9.54 physicians per 1,000 people (95.4 per 10,000)
- Monaco: about 8.61 physicians per 1,000 (86.1 per 10,000)
- Seychelles: 6.60 per 1,000
- Greece: 6.58 per 1,000
- Belgium: 6.53 per 1,000
- Lithuania: 6.10 per 1,000
- Portugal: 5.85 per 1,000
- Georgia: 5.64 per 1,000
- Austria: 5.51 per 1,000
- Russia: 5.11 per 1,000
All values are approximate and tied to the latest year reported for each country, mostly 2020–2023. Even allowing for minor definitional differences, these numbers place the Top 10 countries well above the OECD average and far ahead of the global mean.
Cuba and Monaco: different paths to extreme density
Cuba sits at the top with the world’s highest doctor density. Its health system has long emphasised community-based primary care and medical education, resulting in large cohorts of physicians relative to its population. Cuba is also famous for sending medical brigades abroad, effectively exporting surplus doctors to other countries on temporary missions or cooperation programmes.
Monaco, by contrast, is a very small, high-income city-state on the Mediterranean. Its high density of physicians per 1,000 is partly a statistical effect of having a tiny population and a strong concentration of specialists serving both residents and cross-border patients. It illustrates how micro-states and city-states can appear at the top of per-capita rankings even when the absolute number of doctors is modest.
European leaders: Greece, Belgium, Lithuania, Portugal and Austria
A cluster of European countries populate the middle of the Top 10 list:
- Greece and Belgium both report more than 6.5 physicians per 1,000 people. In Greece’s case, part of this figure reflects the counting of all licensed doctors, not just those in active practice.
- Lithuania, Portugal and Austria range between about 5.5 and 6.1 doctors per 1,000 people. These countries have undergone substantial health-system reforms since the 1990s, expanding medical education and improving retention.
- All five have relatively generous health spending per capita and strong hospital sectors, with physicians concentrated in urban centres but with increasing use of primary care networks in rural areas.
These European systems are still under pressure from ageing populations, rising chronic disease burdens and burnout among health workers. Yet in comparative terms they enjoy a comfortable margin of physician capacity compared with many OECD peers and almost all low- and middle-income countries.
Seychelles, Georgia and Russia: high density in diverse contexts
Seychelles is a small island state in the Indian Ocean with a relatively high income level and universal health coverage. Its doctor density is high partly because of its small population and its decision to invest heavily in health workforce training and recruitment relative to GDP.
Georgia and Russia are post-Soviet states where the legacy of the Semashko model—a state-led system with strong hospital infrastructure—has historically produced high ratios of doctors and hospital beds per 1,000 people. Subsequent reforms have tried to rebalance systems toward primary care and out-patient services while maintaining a large physician workforce.
Why physician density is not the whole story
Though the “physicians per 1,000 people” metric is convenient, it has limitations:
- It does not show the geographic distribution of doctors. Many countries with high overall density still face “medical deserts” in rural areas or deprived urban districts.
- It ignores the skill mix between doctors, nurses, midwives and community health workers. Some high-performing systems lean more on nurse practitioners and advanced practice nurses.
- It does not measure productivity or scope of practice. Two countries with the same number of doctors per 1,000 people may deliver very different volumes and quality of care.
Despite these caveats, physician density remains a useful first pass at understanding how much clinical capacity a country has available relative to its population. The next section summarises the Top 10 ranking in a structured table, followed by a visual comparison with the global and OECD averages.
Top 10 countries by physicians per 1,000 people (approximate 2025 outlook)
The table below uses the latest available figures for medical doctors per 10,000 people compiled from WHO/World Bank data and presented in recent 2025 rankings of “doctors per capita.” Values are converted to physicians per 1,000 people by dividing by 10. Years indicate the most recent data point; small differences in definitions (licensed vs. practising doctors) mean values are approximate but comparable.
| Country / territory | Physicians per 1,000 people (latest year, ≈2020–2023) | Health workforce density & capacity profile |
|---|---|---|
|
Cuba Rank #1 – ≈9.54 per 1,000 |
≈9.54 (95.4 per 10,000 in 2021). | Extremely high physician density built over decades via strong public investment in medical education and community-based primary care. Cuba also deploys large numbers of doctors abroad in medical missions, so the domestic figure partly reflects a training model geared to international cooperation as well as domestic needs. |
|
Monaco ≈8.61 per 1,000 |
≈8.61 (86.1 per 10,000 in 2020). | A wealthy micro-state with a small resident population and high concentration of specialists. Many doctors serve both local residents and affluent cross-border patients from neighbouring France and Italy. High doctor density aligns with very high health spending per capita and a strong focus on specialty care. |
|
Seychelles ≈6.60 per 1,000 |
≈6.60 (66 per 10,000 in 2022). | Small island state with universal health coverage and above-average health spending relative to its population size. Relies on a mix of domestically trained and foreign doctors to staff hospitals and primary care. High doctor density supports progress on non-communicable disease management and maternal/child health outcomes. |
|
Greece ≈6.58 per 1,000 |
≈6.58 (65.8 per 10,000 in 2022). | Among the highest doctor densities in the OECD. Part of the figure reflects counting all licensed physicians rather than only those actively practising. Greece still faces regional imbalances and emigration of young doctors to other EU states, but overall capacity remains high by international standards. |
|
Belgium ≈6.53 per 1,000 |
≈6.53 (65.3 per 10,000 in 2023). | Advanced Western European health system with dense hospital infrastructure and strong specialist care. High numbers of doctors per 1,000 people complement a large nursing workforce, and cross-border care flows are significant within the EU. Pressure points include ageing clinicians and rising chronic disease burdens. |
|
Lithuania ≈6.10 per 1,000 |
≈6.10 (61 per 10,000 in 2023). | Post-transition EU member with substantial investment in health workforce expansion. Doctor density is higher than the EU average, though emigration of health professionals to Western Europe remains a concern. Health reforms aim to shift from hospital-centric care toward stronger primary and preventive services. |
|
Portugal ≈5.85 per 1,000 |
≈5.85 (58.5 per 10,000 in 2022). | One of the highest doctor densities in Southern Europe, supported by expanded medical-school intakes and improved retention. Portugal has narrowed gaps in access to care and maintains strong primary care networks, though shortages persist in some rural and interior regions. |
|
Georgia ≈5.64 per 1,000 |
≈5.64 (56.4 per 10,000 in 2023). | A relatively small upper-middle-income country with a legacy of high hospital and doctor density from the Soviet era. Reforms have introduced social health insurance and more market-oriented provision, while still maintaining a large physician workforce per capita compared with many peers in the region. |
|
Austria ≈5.51 per 1,000 |
≈5.51 (55.1 per 10,000 in 2023). | High-income EU country with strong social insurance, extensive hospital capacity and high health spending per capita. Physician density is among the highest in the OECD, supporting broad access to specialists and relatively short waiting times in many services, though rural access challenges persist. |
|
Russia ≈5.11 per 1,000 |
≈5.11 (51.1 per 10,000 in 2022). | Large, geographically diverse country with high overall physician density but significant regional disparities. Urban centres have high concentrations of specialists, while rural and remote areas can face shortages. Health outcomes are shaped by lifestyle risk factors and economic inequalities as well as workforce supply. |
These figures show just how far the Top 10 are from the global average of about 1.7 physicians per 1,000 people and from low-income countries where the ratio can be five to ten times lower. In the next block, a simple bar chart visualises this gap relative to world and OECD baselines.
Visualising physicians per 1,000 people in 2025: Top 10 vs. world and OECD averages
The bar chart below compares the physician density of the Top 10 countries with two benchmarks: a global average of about 1.7 doctors per 1,000 people and an OECD average of about 3.7 per 1,000 (based mainly on 2021 data). All Top 10 countries sit well above both baselines, highlighting the concentration of medical workforce capacity in a limited group of states.
How to interpret the physician-density gap
The visual gap between the Top 10 and the global and OECD averages underlines three structural features of the global health workforce:
- Concentration of capacity: a relatively small number of countries enjoy very high doctor densities, often due to long-term investments in medical education, favourable working conditions and strong health financing.
- Persistent shortages elsewhere: many low- and lower-middle-income countries remain far below the global average, with fewer than 1 physician per 1,000 residents. They rely heavily on nurses, midwives and community health workers to deliver essential services.
- International mobility: migration of doctors from lower-density to higher-density systems intensifies imbalances. In some high-income countries, more than a quarter of doctors were trained abroad, while origin countries struggle to maintain adequate workforce levels.
For health planners in 2025, “physicians per 1,000 people” is best used as a starting point. It highlights where health systems are likely to face access constraints and where capacity is abundant, but it must be supplemented with data on nurses and midwives, age structure of the workforce, geographic distribution and evolving demand for care. The countries in this Top 10 list show what very high physician density looks like in practice—but they also remind us that numbers alone do not guarantee equitable, high-quality healthcare for all.
Data sources and further reading
- World Population Review – Doctors per Capita by Country 2025
- World Bank – Physicians (per 1,000 people), SH.MED.PHYS.ZS
- WHO – Density of physicians (per 10,000 population)
- Our World in Data – Medical doctors per 1,000 people
- OECD – Health at a Glance 2023: doctors per 1,000 population
- Our World in Data – Rich countries have ten times as many doctors per person as poor ones
