Nurses and midwives, total in the world in 2018 — 27,434,890 people. Since 2014, the indicator has risen by 14.5%.
2014–2018 · people
How the value compares with the world and the groups this territory belongs to: World
| Year | people | Change | Change, % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 27.43M | +1.98M | +7.78% |
| 2017 | 25.45M | −317,965 | −1.23% |
| 2016 | 25.77M | +2.56M | +11.04% |
| 2015 | 23.21M | −751,051 | −3.13% |
| 2014 | 23.96M | — | — |
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.
How many nurses and midwives there are per 1,000 people.
Healthcare Physicians, totalHow many physicians work in a country — in absolute numbers, from 1971 onward.
Healthcare Physicians per 1,000 peopleThe number of physicians per 1,000 people.
Healthcare Hospital beds per 1,000 peopleThe number of hospital beds per 1,000 people — the capacity of inpatient care.