In 2022, the number of doctors increased to 5.8 per thousand inhabitants

The number of doctors increased to 5.8 per thousand inhabitants in 2022, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), which shows that 60,396 specialists were registered with the Medical Association that year, more than half of whom were women.

According to the data, of the total number of doctors, 58,120 are on the mainland, 958 in the Autonomous Region of the Azores and 1,318 in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, with more than 60% being specialists (37,341).

General and family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine and anesthesiology continued to be the specialties of most medical specialists.

Compared to 2021, in 2022 there were 0.1 more doctors per 1,000 inhabitants, according to INE data in the Health Statistics publication, published in connection with World Health Day, which is celebrated on April 7.

“More than half (57.3%) of doctors in 2022 were women, and 48.5% were between the ages of 31 and 60. The number of doctors under the age of 30 (10,323, 0.2% less than in previous year) was higher than this figure, of which those aged 61 to 65 years (5,231, 9% less than in 2021),” INE said.

According to the data, 35.3% of doctors were located in the Northern region and 28.4% in the Greater Lisbon region.

From 2000 to 2022, the number of pediatric specialists increased by 78%, and the number of general and family medicine specialists increased by 88% (an average of 2.9% per year), representing an additional 0.9 physicians specializing in general and family medicine. Family per 1000 inhabitants aged 15 years and older.

In 2022, 41.6% (25,153) of doctors worked in the hospital, an increase of 0.3 p.p. less than in 2021, and this figure has been declining over the past 23 years (61.2% in 1999).

Regarding nurses, INE reports that in 2022 there were 81,799 people registered in the Order, corresponding to 7.8 nurses per 1000 inhabitants, the same as in 2021, with 35.2% in the Northern region, 21.9% in Greater Lisbon and 18.7% in the Center area.

Of the total number of nurses working in 2022, 58,183 were general practitioners (71.1%) and 23,616 specialists (28.9%), of which 60.2% worked in hospitals, which is 0.6 p.p. less than in 2021 and by 5.1 p.p. less than in 2014.

“Although the increase in the number of employed nurses was greater in private hospitals, it was public hospitals or hospitals under public-private partnerships that made the largest contribution to the growth of nurse employment between 2015 and 2022 (80.0% of global growth),” INE highlights.