Healthcare personnel statistics – dentists, pharmacists and physiotherapists

Highlights

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This article presents an overview of European Union (EU) statistics on dentists, pharmacists and physiotherapists. It provides information on specialist healthcare personnel, as well as data relating to dentistry and pharmacy graduates.

This article is 1 of a set of statistical articles concerning healthcare activities in the EU which forms part of an online publication on Health in the European Union – facts and figures.

Healthcare personnel

For dentists and pharmacists, Eurostat collects data for 3 concepts:

• ‘practising’ – health care professionals providing services directly to patients;
• ‘professionally active’ – ‘practising’ professionals plus health care professionals for whom their medical education is a prerequisite for the execution of their job;
• ‘licensed’ – health care professionals who are registered and entitled to practise as health care professionals.

In this article, preference is given to the concept of ‘practising’ health care professionals. For some EU countries, data are not available for this concept and therefore data are presented for 1 of the alternative concepts instead: footnotes indicate these exceptions in each table and figure.

Table 1 provides an overview for 2022 of the number of practising dentists, pharmacists and physiotherapists. Based on the sum of available data (see Table 1 for more details of the coverage and on concepts used by countries), there were more than 363 000 practising dentists and over 418 000 practising pharmacists in the EU countries, while there were and estimated 626 027 physiotherapists in the EU. As such, the combined number of practising dentists, pharmacists and physiotherapists (around 1.4 million) was below the total number of practising physicians (1.8 million); more information on physicians can be found in the article Healthcare personnel statistics – physicians.

Table 1: Practising dentists, pharmacists and physiotherapists, 2022
Source: Eurostat (hlth_rs_prs2)

There were more than 363 000 dentists working in the EU in 2022

In 2022, Germany reported the highest number of dentists with 71 297 practising dentists; this was followed by Italy (52 559) and France (45 989) which both reported over 45 000 practising dentists. There were 4 countries that reported less than 2 000 practising dentists, these were Slovenia (1 571), Estonia (1 375), Latvia (1 331), Cyprus (1 090) and Malta (270).

For pharmacists in 2022, the highest number was reported in Italy with 80 018, followed by France (61 900), Spain (58 800) and Germany (56 800). The lowest numbers of pharmacists were reported in Cyprus, Estonia and Malta, which all reported less than 1 000.

Similarly to dentists, Germany reported the highest number of physiotherapists in 2022, with 197 000. France was the only other country to report more than 100 000 physiotherapists, with 100 569. In the majority of the remaining EU countries, the number of physiotherapists ranged from 66 178 in Spain to 1 156 in Cyprus; Latvia (991), Estonia (597) and Malta (642) were below this range.

Cyprus had the highest number of practicing dentists per capita, with 119.4 per 100 000 inhabitants in 2022

Dentists diagnose, treat and prevent diseases, injuries and abnormalities of the teeth, mouth, jaws and associated tissues. They use a broad range of specialised diagnostic, surgical and other techniques to promote and restore oral health.

In relation to the population, Greece and Portugal reported 133.2 per 100 000 inhabitants and 120.6 per 100 000 inhabitants dentists licensed to practise respectively. The highest number of practising dentists, relative to population was recorded in Cyprus (119.4 per 100 000 inhabitants); Bulgaria (115.4 per 100 000 inhabitants), Romania (114.7 per 100 000 inhabitants), Lithuania (109.6 per 100 000 inhabitants) and Estonia (101.9 per 100 000 inhabitants) were the other EU countries where there were at least 100 practising dentists per 100 000 inhabitants in 2022. Among the remaining EU countries, the number of practising dentists per 100 000 inhabitants was generally within the range of 50 to 100; only Ireland was below this range, with 45.1 practising dentists per 100 000 inhabitants – see Figure 1.

Figure 1: Practising dentists, 2012 and 2022
(per 100 000 inhabitants)
Source: Eurostat (hlth_rs_prs2)

There were over 418 000 pharmacists working in the EU in 2022

Pharmacists store, preserve, compound, dispense and sell medicinal products – irrespective of where they provide these services. They may also provide advice on the proper use and adverse effects of drugs and medicines following prescriptions issued by medical doctors and other health professionals.

Malta had the highest number of pharmacists per 100 000 inhabitants

Taking into account the size of each EU country in population terms, Malta recorded the highest number of practising pharmacists in 2022, at 151.6 per 100 000 inhabitants – see Figure 2 for information concerning differences in data coverage for individual EU countries. There were also relatively high ratios of pharmacists in Italy (135.6 per 100 000 inhabitants) and Belgium (132.5 per 100 000 inhabitants). The majority of the other EU countries reported between 58 and 123 pharmacists per 100 000 inhabitants, although the Netherlands (21.9 per 100 000 inhabitants) reported a ratio that was considerably lower.

Figure 2: Practising pharmacists, 2012 and 2022
(per 100 000 inhabitants)
Source: Eurostat (hlth_rs_prs2)

There were 140 physiotherapists per 100 000 inhabitants working in the EU in 2022

Physiotherapists assess, plan and implement rehabilitative programmes that improve or restore human motor functions, maximise movement ability, relieve pain syndromes, and treat or prevent physical challenges associated with injuries, diseases and other impairments. They apply a broad range of physical therapies and techniques such as movement, ultrasound, heating, laser and other techniques.

Germany had the highest number of physiotherapists per 100 000 inhabitants

In 2022, there were an estimated 626 027 physiotherapists working in the EU; this was equivalent to an average of 140 physiotherapists per 100 000 inhabitants. The relative distribution of physiotherapists across the individual EU countries was more diverse than for dentists or pharmacists, ranging in 2022 from 235.1 per 100 000 inhabitants in Germany, 220.5 per 100 000 inhabitants in Belgium and 198.1 per 100 000 inhabitants in the Netherlands down to 14.2 per 100 000 inhabitants in Romania – see Figure 3.

Figure 3: Practising physiotherapists, 2012 and 2022
(per 100 0000 inhabitants)
Source: Eurostat (hlth_rs_prs2)

Health graduates

Table 2 presents data on the number of dentists and pharmacists graduating in EU countries. In 2022, there were 14 306 dentistry graduates and 20 806 pharmacy graduates across the EU.

Table 2: Graduates – dentists and pharmacists, 2012, 2017 and 2022
Source: Eurostat (hlth_rs_grd2)

The EU’s most populous country, Germany, had the highest number of dentistry graduates (2 504) in 2022, while there were around 1 900 dentistry graduates in Romania and Spain, 1 481 in France (2021 data) and 1 203 in Poland; none of the other EU countries had more than 1 000 graduates and there were 6 countries where there were fewer than 100 dentistry graduates, these were Latvia (99), Ireland (90), Slovenia (63), Cyprus (33), Estonia (25) and Malta (0).

By contrast, the highest numbers of pharmacy graduates were recorded in Italy (4 192), France (3 294; 2021 data) and Spain (2 722), all with more pharmacy graduates than Germany (2 400). There were also in excess of 1 000 pharmacy graduates in Romania (1 290) and Poland (1 071). There were less than 100 pharmacy graduates in Estonia (58), Latvia (55) and Malta (23).

Relative to the total number of inhabitants, Romania recorded the highest number of dentistry graduates in 2022 at 9.9 graduates per 100 000 inhabitants (see Figure 4 for more information on the data coverage for each EU country). Portugal (9.1 graduates per 100 000 inhabitants) and Bulgaria (7.8 graduates per 100 000 inhabitants) also recorded relatively high ratios. The majority of the other EU countries for which data are available reported between 1.7 and 5.7 dentistry graduates per 100 000 inhabitants, although the Netherlands (1.5) and Italy (1.4) were below this range. Note that in 2022 there were 0 graduates from degree courses in dentistry in Malta; Luxembourg does not offer full training in dentistry, therefore there are no graduates.

Figure 4: Graduates – dentists, 2012 and 2022
(per 100 000 inhabitants)
Source: Eurostat (hlth_rs_grd2)

Between 2012 and 2022, among the countries for which data for both years are available, the number of dentistry graduates increased or remained the same in all but 1 EU country: Malta where it fell from 1.4 to 0 dentistry graduates per 100 000 inhabitants. The largest increase was seen in Bulgaria where it increased by 3.6 dentistry graduates per 100 000 inhabitants. Romania, Latvia and Portugal also reported increases of more than 3.0 graduates per 100 000 inhabitants. In most of the remaining countries this increase was between 0.1 and 1.9 graduates per 100 000 inhabitants. There was no change observed in 3 countries: Germany, Denmark (2021 data) and Ireland (break in series).

Cyprus recorded, by far, the highest ratio of pharmacy graduates in relation to its total population, at 23.6 graduates per 100 000 inhabitants in 2022 (see Figure 5 for more information on the data coverage for each EU country). The next highest ratios were recorded in Slovenia (8.4 graduates per 100 000 inhabitants) and Portugal (8.3 graduates per 100 000 inhabitants). The majority of the other EU countries for which data are available reported between 2.8 and 7.1 pharmacy graduates per 100 000 inhabitants, with relatively few pharmacy graduates in the Netherlands (1.4 graduates per 100 000 inhabitants). Note that Luxembourg does not offer full training in pharmacy, therefore there are no graduates.

Figure 5: Graduates – pharmacists, 2012 and 2022
(per 100 000 inhabitants)
Source: Eurostat (hlth_rs_grd2)

For pharmacy graduates, there was more varied changes observed between 2012 and 2022. The number of pharmacy graduates per 100 000 inhabitants increased in 13 countries. The largest increase was observed in Cyprus where the number of pharmacy graduates increased from 0.0 to 23.6. In the remaining 12 countries this increase was between 0.1 and 2.5 pharmacy graduates per 100 000 inhabitants. A decrease was observed in 12 countries, with the largest decrease observed in Malta where is decreased by 5.2 graduates per 100 000 inhabitants. Slovenia, Portugal and Romania also reported decreases of more than 2.0 graduates per 100 000 inhabitants. The smallest decrease was observed in Czechia where it decreased by 0.2 graduates per 100 000 inhabitants.

Source data for tables and graphs

Data sources

Key concepts

Practising dentists, pharmacists and physiotherapists provide services directly to patients. Dentists and pharmacists have completed university studies in their respective domains and all 3 professions need to be licensed to practise. Dentists and pharmacists who are working in administration, research or other posts that exclude direct contact with the patients and clients are excluded from the definition of those who are practising, whereas they are included in the definition for those who are professionally active (as long as their job requires an education in dentistry/pharmacy). The broader definition of dentists and pharmacists who are licensed to practise additionally includes those for whom their dentistry/pharmacy education is not a prerequisite for the execution of the job, as well as those who are unemployed, retired, or working abroad.

Data on dental and pharmacy graduates cover the number of students who have obtained a recognised qualification in dentistry or pharmacy in a given year; a university degree is generally not required to practise as a physiotherapist.

EU aggregates for healthcare personnel are calculated using data for the most recent reference year available, however if the most recent data available is from more than 5-years ago it cannot be used.

Healthcare resources

Statistics on healthcare resources (such as personnel and medical equipment) are documented in this background article on Healthcare non-expenditure statistics – methodology which provides information on the scope of the data, its legal basis, the methodology employed, as well as related concepts and definitions.

More articles on health professions statistics are available, namely on Physicians, and Nurses and caring professionals.

For country specific notes on these data collections, please refer to the annexes at the end of the national metadata reports accessible from links at the beginning of the European metadata report.

Common definitions have been agreed between Eurostat, the OECD and the World Health Organization (WHO) with respect to the employment of various health care professionals. There are 3 main concepts which are used to present these data. In this article preference is given to the concept of ‘practising’ dentists and pharmacists:

• ‘practising’ – health care professionals providing services directly to patients;
• ‘professionally active’ – ‘practising’ professionals plus health care professionals for whom their medical education is a prerequisite for the execution of their job;
• ‘licensed’ – health care professionals who are registered and entitled to practise as health care professionals.

The Healthcare non-expenditure statistics manual provides an overview of the classifications, both for mandatory variables and variables provided on a voluntary basis.

Symbols

In tables, a colon ‘:’ is used to show where data are not available. Data in italics are estimates or provisional.

Context

According to EU statistics on income and living conditions (EU-SILC), an estimated 2.9% of the EU’s population (aged 16 years and over) reported they had unmet needs for dental examination due to financial reasons in 2023; this figure was nearly three times as high as the corresponding share of the population reporting they had finance-related unmet needs for medical examination (1.0%). This difference may, at least in part, be due to national social security systems covering fewer people or a lower proportion of the total cost of dental care, resulting in some individuals having to pay a relatively large share of their dental expenses out of their own pockets (or through private health insurance).

‘Dental tourism’ is an area that has seen particularly rapid growth in several EU Member States in recent years, for example, in Bulgaria, Spain or Hungary. Relatively low prices, increased patient mobility, lower prices for air travel, and greater consumer confidence and awareness have led some to consider the option of having dental treatment abroad. This pattern may be expected to develop in the coming years: Directive 2011/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, on the application of patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare was implemented in 2013 and provides patients with increased rights and promotes cooperation between health systems.

Some health professionals seek jobs in other EU Member States. Aside from the expected benefits for the individuals concerned, their movement can impact labour markets. Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications provides a Europe-wide legal framework enabling EU Member States to recognise each other’s qualifications. A range of health professionals – including dentists, pharmacists and physiotherapists – enjoy automatic recognition. In other words, if someone is a certified practitioner in their home EU Member State then they are automatically entitled to practise anywhere else in the EU. The directive also provides a set of minimum requirements for each professional activity, including the need for a compulsory university degree in order to be a dental practitioner or a pharmacist, and a minimum study/training period of 4 years for dental practitioners, 5 years for pharmacists and 3 years for physiotherapists.

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