Physicians, total — all countries

Physicians, total — World

Physicians, total in the world in 2020 — 11,660,985 people. Since 2018, the indicator has risen by 3.7%.

2020 11.66M people +3.73% vs 2018
World rank
Period maximum 11.66M people2020
Period minimum 11.24M people2018

Trend over time

2018–2020 · people

Physicians, total — World, 2018–202011.2M11.4M11.6M11.8M2018201920202018: 11,241,904 people2020: 11,660,985 people
Change over the period: +419,081 (+3.73%) Average annual rate: 1.85 %

Comparison, 2020

How the value compares with the world and the groups this territory belongs to: World

World 11.66M people
World computed 11.66M people
Physicians, total — World, by year World All countries CSV XLSX
Year people Change Change, %
2020 11.66M
2018 11.24M

About the indicator

The number of practicing physicians, from the WHO Global Health Observatory. The World Bank republishes only the density — physicians per thousand people — so the absolute number is available directly from WHO alone. Physicians of all specialties are counted, general practitioners and specialists included.

Important: The definition of a practicing physician differs across national registers: some countries include those working in administration and research. Physicians per thousand people is a separate indicator and suits comparison between countries better.

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