Nurses and midwives, total — all countries

Nurses and midwives, total — OECD

Nurses and midwives, total in the OECD in 2023 — 10,292,771 people. Since 1995, the indicator has risen by 161.2%.

2023 10.29M people −17.28% vs 2022
World rank
Period maximum 12.54M people2020
Period minimum 3.94M people1995

Trend over time

1995–2023 · people

Nurses and midwives, total — OECD, 1995–202305M10M15M19951998200120042007201020132016201920221995: 3,940,140 people1996: 4,888,835 people1997: 4,953,594 people1998: 5,444,769 people1999: 5,292,416 people2000: 7,950,535 people2001: 7,002,183 people2002: 8,430,835 people2003: 7,348,985 people2004: 8,796,340 people2005: 7,803,522 people2006: 8,943,334 people2007: 8,106,399 people2008: 9,560,789 people2009: 8,316,811 people2010: 9,818,900 people2011: 8,655,384 people2012: 10,230,782 people2013: 8,932,924 people2014: 10,695,989 people2015: 9,453,783 people2016: 11,212,079 people2017: 9,935,680 people2018: 11,679,867 people2019: 10,877,220 people2020: 12,543,190 people2021: 11,284,064 people2022: 12,442,905 people2023: 10,292,771 people
Change over the period: +6.35M (+161.23%) Average annual rate: 3.49 %
Nurses and midwives, total — OECD, by year OECD All countries CSV XLSX
Year people Change Change, %
2023 10.29M −2.15M −17.28%
2022 12.44M +1.16M +10.27%
2021 11.28M −1.26M −10.04%
2020 12.54M +1.67M +15.32%
2019 10.88M −802,647 −6.87%
2018 11.68M +1.74M +17.55%
2017 9.94M −1.28M −11.38%
2016 11.21M +1.76M +18.6%
2015 9.45M −1.24M −11.61%
2014 10.7M +1.76M +19.74%
2013 8.93M −1.3M −12.69%
2012 10.23M +1.58M +18.2%
2011 8.66M −1.16M −11.85%
2010 9.82M +1.5M +18.06%
2009 8.32M −1.24M −13.01%
2008 9.56M +1.45M +17.94%
2007 8.11M −836,935 −9.36%
2006 8.94M +1.14M +14.61%
2005 7.8M −992,818 −11.29%
2004 8.8M +1.45M +19.69%
2003 7.35M −1.08M −12.83%
2002 8.43M +1.43M +20.4%
2001 7M −948,352 −11.93%
2000 7.95M +2.66M +50.23%
1999 5.29M −152,353 −2.8%
1998 5.44M +491,175 +9.92%
1997 4.95M +64,759 +1.32%
1996 4.89M +948,695 +24.08%
1995 3.94M

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.