Nurses

On average across OECD countries, there were around 9 nurses per 1 000 population in 2014. The number of nurses per capita was highest in Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Finland, with more than 14 nurses per 1 000 population. The number of nurses per capita in OECD countries was lowest in Turkey, Mexico and Greece. The number of nurses per capita was also low compared with the OECD average in the emerging economies, such as Indonesia, India, South Africa, and Brazil where there were fewer than 1.5 nurses per 1 000 population in 2013, although numbers have been growing quite rapidly in Brazil in recent years.

The number of nurses per capita increased in almost all OECD countries over the past decade. This was the case in countries that already had a high density of nurses in 2000 such as Switzerland, Norway and Denmark, but also in Korea, Portugal and France which used to have a relatively low density of nurses. The number of nurses per capita declined between 2000 and 2014 only in Israel and the Slovak Republic.

In 2013, there were about three nurses per doctor on average across OECD countries, with about half of the countries reporting between two to four nurses per doctor. The nurse-to-doctor ratio was highest in Finland, Japan, Ireland and Denmark (with at least 4.5 nurses per doctor). It was lowest in Greece (with only about half a nurse per doctor) and in Turkey and Mexico (with only about one nurse per doctor).

There were 47 newly graduated nurses per 100 000 population on average across OECD countries in 2014. The number was highest in Korea, Denmark and Switzerland, and lowest in Mexico, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, Spain, Turkey, Israel and Italy, with less than half the OECD average. Nurse graduation rates have traditionally been low in Mexico, Turkey, Israel and Spain, four countries which report a relatively low number of nurses per capita. In Luxembourg, nurse graduation rates are also low, but many nurses are foreign-trained.