* indicates monthly or quarterly data series

Nurses per 1,000 people, 2020:

The average for 2020 based on 25 countries was 8.71 nurses per 1,000 people. The highest value was in Switzerland: 18.37 nurses per 1,000 people and the lowest value was in South Africa: 1.03 nurses per 1,000 people. The indicator is available from 1978 to 2021. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Measure: nurses per 1,000 people; Source: OECD
Select indicator
* indicates monthly or quarterly data series


Countries Nurses per 1,000 people, 2020 Global rank Available data
Switzerland 18.37 1 2000 - 2020
Norway 18.01 2 2002 - 2021
Iceland 15.63 3 1980 - 2021
Australia 12.26 4 1980 - 2020
Japan 12.1 5 2002 - 2020
Germany 12.06 6 2000 - 2020
Netherlands 11.08 7 2002 - 2020
New Zealand 10.6 8 2005 - 2021
Austria 10.48 9 1985 - 2020
Slovenia 10.47 10 2000 - 2020
Canada 10.06 11 2003 - 2020
Czechia 8.66 12 1980 - 2020
UK 8.46 13 2000 - 2021
South Korea 8.37 14 1997 - 2020
Lithuania 7.81 15 1991 - 2020
Hungary 6.58 16 1990 - 2021
Estonia 6.38 17 1980 - 2020
Italy 6.28 18 2003 - 2021
Spain 6.1 19 1980 - 2020
Israel 5.14 20 1996 - 2020
Latvia 4.18 21 1989 - 2020
China 3.27 22 1978 - 2020
Mexico 2.91 23 1990 - 2020
Brazil 1.42 24 1990 - 2021
South Africa 1.03 25 1998 - 2020


New - World map: Nurses per 1,000 people




Definition: Number of professional and associate professional nurses per 1,000 residents of the country.

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