Nurses and midwives, total — all countries

Nurses and midwives, total — NATO

Nurses and midwives, total in NATO in 2023 — 8,610,444 people. Since 1998, the indicator has risen by 78.5%.

2023 8.61M people −7.05% vs 2022
World rank
Period maximum 9.7M people2021
Period minimum 4.65M people1999

Trend over time

1998–2023 · people

Nurses and midwives, total — NATO, 1998–20234M6M8M10M1998200120042007201020132016201920221998: 4,824,424 people1999: 4,648,331 people2000: 6,269,697 people2001: 6,317,814 people2002: 6,639,515 people2003: 6,651,422 people2004: 6,936,526 people2005: 7,078,200 people2006: 7,205,640 people2007: 7,316,918 people2008: 7,471,583 people2009: 7,455,569 people2010: 7,574,954 people2011: 7,686,322 people2012: 7,870,657 people2013: 7,835,178 people2014: 8,125,867 people2015: 8,256,668 people2016: 8,471,674 people2017: 8,611,405 people2018: 8,804,500 people2019: 9,431,455 people2020: 9,458,135 people2021: 9,699,723 people2022: 9,263,861 people2023: 8,610,444 people
Change over the period: +3.79M (+78.48%) Average annual rate: 2.34 %
Nurses and midwives, total — NATO, by year NATO All countries CSV XLSX
Year people Change Change, %
2023 8.61M −653,417 −7.05%
2022 9.26M −435,862 −4.49%
2021 9.7M +241,588 +2.55%
2020 9.46M +26,680 +0.28%
2019 9.43M +626,955 +7.12%
2018 8.8M +193,095 +2.24%
2017 8.61M +139,731 +1.65%
2016 8.47M +215,006 +2.6%
2015 8.26M +130,801 +1.61%
2014 8.13M +290,689 +3.71%
2013 7.84M −35,479 −0.45%
2012 7.87M +184,335 +2.4%
2011 7.69M +111,368 +1.47%
2010 7.57M +119,385 +1.6%
2009 7.46M −16,014 −0.21%
2008 7.47M +154,665 +2.11%
2007 7.32M +111,278 +1.54%
2006 7.21M +127,440 +1.8%
2005 7.08M +141,674 +2.04%
2004 6.94M +285,104 +4.29%
2003 6.65M +11,907 +0.18%
2002 6.64M +321,701 +5.09%
2001 6.32M +48,117 +0.77%
2000 6.27M +1.62M +34.88%
1999 4.65M −176,093 −3.65%
1998 4.82M

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.