Nurses and midwives, total — all countries

Nurses and midwives, total — European Union

Nurses and midwives, total in the European Union in 2023 — 3,150,771 people. Since 1995, the indicator has risen by 218.4%.

2023 3.15M people −7.31% vs 2022
World rank
Period maximum 4M people2021
Period minimum 965,351 people1996

Trend over time

1995–2023 · people

Nurses and midwives, total — European Union, 1995–202301M2M3M4M19951998200120042007201020132016201920221995: 989,573 people1996: 965,351 people1997: 972,998 people1998: 1,393,217 people1999: 1,424,897 people2000: 2,555,246 people2001: 2,560,186 people2002: 2,780,917 people2003: 2,800,741 people2004: 2,973,907 people2005: 3,024,410 people2006: 3,086,583 people2007: 3,144,981 people2008: 3,208,169 people2009: 3,126,562 people2010: 3,161,412 people2011: 3,197,155 people2012: 3,329,110 people2013: 3,251,702 people2014: 3,480,521 people2015: 3,536,247 people2016: 3,599,653 people2017: 3,678,874 people2018: 3,734,730 people2019: 3,873,763 people2020: 3,957,351 people2021: 3,999,387 people2022: 3,399,078 people2023: 3,150,771 people
Change over the period: +2.16M (+218.4%) Average annual rate: 4.22 %
Nurses and midwives, total — European Union, by year European Union All countries CSV XLSX
Year people Change Change, %
2023 3.15M −248,307 −7.31%
2022 3.4M −600,309 −15.01%
2021 4M +42,036 +1.06%
2020 3.96M +83,588 +2.16%
2019 3.87M +139,033 +3.72%
2018 3.73M +55,856 +1.52%
2017 3.68M +79,221 +2.2%
2016 3.6M +63,406 +1.79%
2015 3.54M +55,726 +1.6%
2014 3.48M +228,819 +7.04%
2013 3.25M −77,408 −2.33%
2012 3.33M +131,955 +4.13%
2011 3.2M +35,743 +1.13%
2010 3.16M +34,850 +1.11%
2009 3.13M −81,607 −2.54%
2008 3.21M +63,188 +2.01%
2007 3.14M +58,398 +1.89%
2006 3.09M +62,173 +2.06%
2005 3.02M +50,503 +1.7%
2004 2.97M +173,166 +6.18%
2003 2.8M +19,824 +0.71%
2002 2.78M +220,731 +8.62%
2001 2.56M +4,940 +0.19%
2000 2.56M +1.13M +79.33%
1999 1.42M +31,680 +2.27%
1998 1.39M +420,219 +43.19%
1997 972,998 +7,647 +0.79%
1996 965,351 −24,222 −2.45%
1995 989,573

About the indicator

The number of nursing and midwifery personnel, from WHO. This category is almost always the largest in a health system — worldwide there are on average about three times as many nurses as physicians, and in countries with developed primary care the gap is wider still.

Important: The ratio of nurses to physicians speaks of the structure of a system: a low value usually means that physicians are doing the work of nursing care, and that is a sign of a staffing shortage rather than of an abundance of doctors.

Source: Global Health Observatory (WHO), license CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.