Comprehensive analysis of physician density worldwide - Medical doctors per 1,000 people (1960-2022)
Cuba leads with 9.43 physicians per 1,000 people, while countries like Niger have only 0.02 - a 471x difference
Sub-Saharan Africa has 0.23 physicians per 1,000 people compared to 3.68 in Europe & Central Asia
High-income countries average 3.58 physicians per 1,000, while low-income countries have only 0.38
Over 40 countries have fewer than 0.5 physicians per 1,000 people, indicating severe healthcare shortages
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World Health Organization and OECD, via World Bank (2025) - World Development Indicators
Physicians include generalist and specialist medical practitioners. Data represents the number of medical doctors per 1,000 people in the population.
1960-2022 (most recent data shown is from 2022)
Data comparability is limited by differences in definitions and training of medical personnel. Human resources tend to be concentrated in urban areas, so average densities may not reflect availability to entire populations.