Medical professionals like doctors and nurses are essential to public health around the world. They are a crucial part of preventative care and can also save lives in emergency situations. Specialized medical personnel can also treat more specific issues like cancer, mental illnesses, and heart disease. The NYRequirements.com team looked at data provided by the World Bank to see which countries around the planet have the most physicians, nurses, and midwives per 1,000 people. Take a look to see which country came out on top! Based on the most recent data from the World Bank, these are the countries that have the most physicians per 1,000 residents: The country with the most doctors per capita is Cuba, with 8.4 doctors per 1,000 people. Cuba, which has a population of about 11 million, is known for producing well-trained doctors and often sends many of their doctors abroad to other countries. Monaco comes in at number two with 7.1 doctors per 1,000 residents. Monaco is a microstate on the French Riviera and is home to about 38,000 people. These are the countries that have the most nurses and midwives per capita: The country with the most nurses and midwives in the world is Finland. Finland has a population of about 5.5 million people and has 22.3 nurses and midwives per 1,000 people. Monaco ranks second with 20.2 nurses and midwives per 1,000 people. Monaco ranks second for both most physicians and most nurses/midwives per 1,000 people. As of May 2022, there were about 1,073,000 physicians practicing in the United States. California has the most doctors in the U.S., at around 117,000. Some physicians practice general family medicine, while others have specialties, like dermatologists, psychiatrists, cardiologists, and pediatricians. There are about 9.2 million doctors around the world. The United States has 8% of the world’s doctors, despite only having 4% of the world’s population. There are approximately 27.9 million nurses and midwives around the world, which makes their profession the largest percentage of the health-care workforce. In the United States, controlled substances can only be prescribed by licensed health-care providers. The Controlled Substances Act of 1971 categorized controlled substances into five different groups: Only certain health practitioners are able to prescribe controlled substances due to their addictive nature. In New York, eligible health practitioners can complete an online educational course on prescribing controlled substances. 1 Monaco 7.5 20.2 27.7 2 Finland 4.6 22.3 26.9 3 Norway 4.9 18.3 23.2 4 Switzerland 4.3 18.3 22.6 5 Iceland 4.1 17.2 21.3 6 Germany 4.4 14.2 18.6 7 United States 2.6 15.7 18.3 8 Australia 3.9 13.1 17.0 9 Ireland 3.4 13.0 16.4 10 Sweden 4.4 11.9 16.3 11 Cuba 8.4 7.6 16.0 12 Belarus 4.5 11.0 15.5 13 Luxembourg 3.0 12.2 15.2 14 France 3.3 11.8 15.1 15 Netherlands 3.8 11.1 14.9 16 Belgium 3.1 11.7 14.8 17 Denmark 4.2 10.5 14.7 17 New Zealand 3.5 11.2 14.7 19 Japan 2.5 11.9 14.4 20 San Marino 6.1 8.2 14.3 21 Canada 2.4 11.4 13.8 21 Slovenia 3.3 10.5 13.8 23 Uzbekistan 2.4 11.3 13.7 24 Czechia 4.1 8.9 13.0 25 Portugal 5.5 7.4 12.9 26 Lithuania 4.6 8.2 12.8 27 Russia 4.2 8.5 12.7 28 Austria 5.3 7.1 12.4 28 Malta 2.9 9.5 12.4 30 Georgia 7.1 5.2 12.3 31 Uruguay 4.9 7.2 12.1 32 Antigua and Barbuda 2.8 9.1 11.9 33 United Kingdom 2.9 8.6 11.5 34 Kazakhstan 4.0 7.3 11.3 35 South Korea 2.5 8.2 10.7 36 Spain 4.4 6.1 10.5 37 Hungary 3.5 6.9 10.4 37 Italy 4.0 6.4 10.4 37 Seychelles 2.3 8.1 10.4 40 Estonia 3.5 6.6 10.1 41 Greece 6.3 3.7 10.0 42 Kuwait 2.6 7.4 10.0 43 Brazil 2.3 7.4 9.7 44 Croatia 3.5 6.2 9.7 45 Qatar 2.5 7.2 9.7 46 Slovakia 3.6 6.1 9.7 47 Ukraine 3.0 6.7 9.7 48 Azerbaijan 3.2 6.4 9.6 49 Israel 3.6 5.6 9.2 50 Romania 3.0 6.1 9.1 51 Bulgaria 4.2 4.8 9.0 52 Singapore 2.5 6.2 8.7 53 Libya 2.1 6.5 8.6 54 Saudi Arabia 2.8 5.8 8.6 55 Serbia 2.5 6.1 8.6 56 Trinidad and Tobago 4.5 4.1 8.6 57 United Arab Emirates 2.6 5.7 8.3 58 North Korea 3.7 4.4 8.1 59 Latvia 3.3 4.8 8.1 60 Mongolia 3.9 4.2 8.1 61 Poland 2.4 5.7 8.1 62 Montenegro 2.7 5.3 8.0 63 Armenia 2.9 5.0 7.9 64 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2.2 5.7 7.9 65 Kyrgyzstan 2.2 5.6 7.8 66 Grenada 1.4 6.3 7.7 67 Palau 1.4 6.3 7.7 68 Brunei 1.6 5.9 7.5 69 Chile 2.7 4.8 7.5 70 Andorra 3.3 4.0 7.3 71 Dominica 1.1 6.1 7.2 72 Cyprus 3.1 4.0 7.1 73 St. Kitts and Nevis 2.8 4.2 7.0 74 Maldives 2.1 4.8 6.9 75 Albania 1.6 5.1 6.7 76 Argentina 4.1 2.6 6.7 77 North Macedonia 2.9 3.8 6.7 78 Turkmenistan 2.2 4.4 6.6 79 Bahamas 1.9 4.6 6.5 80 Mauritius 2.6 3.9 6.5 81 Moldova 2.6 3.9 6.5 82 Tajikistan 1.7 4.8 6.5 83 Costa Rica 2.9 3.4 6.3 84 Jordan 2.7 3.3 6.0 85 Oman 1.9 4.1 6.0 86 Philippines 0.6 5.4 6.0 87 Botswana 0.4 5.5 5.9 88 South Africa 0.8 5.0 5.8 89 Barbados 2.5 3.1 5.6 90 Malaysia 2.1 3.5 5.6 91 China 2.2 3.1 5.3 92 Mexico 2.4 2.8 5.2 93 Tuvalu 0.9 4.3 5.2 94 Fiji 0.9 4.0 4.9 95 Turkey 1.9 3.0 4.9 96 Panama 1.6 3.2 4.8 97 Ecuador 2.2 2.5 4.7 98 El Salvador 2.9 1.8 4.7 99 Suriname 0.8 3.9 4.7 100 Guyana 1.8 2.7 4.5 101 Peru 1.4 3.0 4.4 102 Eswatini 0.2 4.1 4.3 103 Indonesia 0.5 3.8 4.3 104 Nepal 0.8 3.3 4.1 105 Thailand 0.9 3.2 4.1 106 Lebanon 2.2 1.7 3.9 107 Lesotho 0.5 3.3 3.8 108 St. Lucia 0.6 3.2 3.8 109 Tunisia 1.3 2.5 3.8 110 Venezuela 1.7 2.1 3.8 111 Colombia 2.3 1.4 3.7 112 Iran 1.6 2.1 3.7 113 Samoa 0.3 3.4 3.7 114 Gabon 0.6 2.9 3.5 115 Sri Lanka 1.2 2.3 3.5 116 Bahrain 0.9 2.5 3.4 117 Belize 1.1 2.3 3.4 118 Nicaragua 1.7 1.6 3.3 119 Algeria 1.7 1.5 3.2 120 Dominican Republic 1.5 1.5 3.0 121 Ghana 0.1 2.7 2.8 122 Syria 1.3 1.5 2.8 123 Iraq 0.7 2.0 2.7 124 Bolivia 1.0 1.6 2.6 125 Egypt 0.7 1.9 2.6 126 Namibia 0.6 2.0 2.6 127 Sao Tome and Principe 0.5 2.1 2.6 128 Timor-Leste 0.8 1.8 2.6 129 India 0.7 1.7 2.4 130 Solomon Islands 0.2 2.2 2.4 131 Bhutan 0.5 1.8 2.3 132 Vietnam 0.8 1.4 2.2 133 Cabo Verde 0.8 1.3 2.1 134 Liberia 0.1 2.0 2.1 135 Morocco 0.7 1.4 2.1 136 Paraguay 1.4 0.7 2.1 137 Zimbabwe 0.2 1.9 2.1 138 Nigeria 0.4 1.5 1.9 139 Comoros 0.3 1.5 1.8 140 Myanmar 0.7 1.1 1.8 141 Guatemala 0.4 1.3 1.7 142 Laos 0.4 1.2 1.6 143 Pakistan 1.1 0.5 1.6 144 Uganda 0.4 1.2 1.6 145 Vanuatu 0.2 1.4 1.6 146 Democratic Republic of the Congo 0.4 1.1 1.5 147 Eritrea 0.1 1.4 1.5 148 Jamaica 0.5 0.9 1.4 149 Kenya 0.2 1.2 1.4 150 Sudan 0.3 1.1 1.4 151 Yemen 0.5 0.8 1.3 152 Cambodia 0.2 1.0 1.2 153 Republic of the Congo 0.1 1.0 1.1 154 Mauritania 0.2 0.9 1.1 155 Zambia 0.1 1.0 1.1 156 Bangladesh 0.6 0.4 1.0 157 Burkina Faso 0.1 0.9 1.0 158 Honduras 0.3 0.7 1.0 159 Rwanda 0.1 0.9 1.0 160 Cote d'Ivoire 0.2 0.7 0.9 161 Djibouti 0.2 0.7 0.9 162 Guinea-Bissau 0.2 0.7 0.9 163 Sierra Leone 0.1 0.8 0.9 164 Burundi 0.1 0.7 0.8 165 Ethiopia 0.1 0.7 0.8 166 Guinea 0.2 0.6 0.8 167 Equatorial Guinea 0.4 0.3 0.7 168 Gambia 0.1 0.6 0.7 169 Tanzania 0.1 0.6 0.7 170 Afghanistan 0.2 0.4 0.6 171 Angola 0.2 0.4 0.6 172 Haiti 0.2 0.4 0.6 173 Malawi 0.2 0.4 0.6 174 Mozambique 0.1 0.5 0.6 175 Papua New Guinea 0.1 0.5 0.6 176 Senegal 0.1 0.5 0.6 177 Togo 0.1 0.5 0.6 178 Cameroon 0.1 0.4 0.5 179 Madagascar 0.2 0.3 0.5 180 Mali 0.1 0.4 0.5 181 Benin 0.1 0.3 0.4 182 Central African Republic 0.1 0.3 0.4 183 South Sudan 0.0 0.3 0.3 184 Chad 0.1 0.1 0.2 185 Niger 0.0 0.2 0.2 186 Somalia 0.0 0.1 0.1 Embed code:Click here to download the printable PDF version of the chart.
Countries With the Most Medical Personnel per Capita
About Medical Personnel Around the World
How Many Doctors Are in the U.S.?
How Many Doctors Are in the World?
How Many Nurses Are in the World?
Who Can Prescribe Controlled Substances?
Total Physicians, Nurses, and Midwives per 1,000 People
Rank Country Physicians per 1,000 People Nurses and Midwives per 1,000 People Total Medical Personnel per 1,000 People