Density of medical doctors (per 10,000 population) (2012-2020): 41.5
Density of nursing and midwifery personnel (per 10,000 population) (2012-2020): 89.3
Density of dentists (per 10,000 population) (2012-2020): 7.3
Density of pharmacists (per 10,000 population) (2012-2020): 7.2

Remuneration of Doctors, Ratio to Average Wage (2019)
General Practitioners: NA
Specialists: 2.4

Source: OECD (2021), Health at a Glance 2021: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/ae3016b9-en.

Remuneration of Hospital Nurses, Ratio to Average Wage (2019): 1.3
Remuneration of Hospital Nurses, USD PPP (2019): $36,600

Source: OECD (2021), Health at a Glance 2021: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/ae3016b9-en.

“The density of physicians in Czechia in 2019 (4.1 per 1,000 population) was slightly above the EU average (3.9), while the density of nurses was close to the EU average (8.6 per 1,000 population compared to 8.4) (Figure 9). However, availability of nurses – especially in the inpatient sector – has been a challenge long before the COVID-19 pandemic. Growing nursing vacancies across Czech hospitals are increasingly threatening to limit their operational capabilities.

“The scarcity of practising nurses has been driven by a mix of factors, with relatively low wages and limited career progression opportunities being the key drivers. Some nurses reportedly left their clinical roles after new educational requirements were imposed in 2004, which made them attain additional degrees that in turn created opportunities to leave the profession.

“A variety of measures have been taken to address the shortage of nurses – most importantly a law in 2017 that updated the requirements on nursing qualifications (see Section 5.2) and an increase in salaries across all health care professions. Nursing wages remain low compared to other European countries but are now above the Czech average wage.”

“The total number of individuals employed in the Czech health sector at the end of 2012 was 249,658 in full-time equivalents (FTEs), 39,719 of whom were physicians and 7247 were dentists. There were a further 6265 pharmacists and 107,476 paramedical workers with professional qualifications (PWPQs). Of these PWPQs, 86,424 were general nurses and 4055 were midwives. At the end of 2012 approximately 71.1% of all physicians (including dentists) and about 51% of PWPQs were providing outpatient care (ÚZIS, 2013a).”

Source: Alexa J, Rečka L, Votápková J, van Ginneken E, Spranger A, Wittenbecher F. Czech Republic: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2015; 17(1):1–165.

“The number of physicians in the Czech Republic is slightly above the EU28 average, with 3.78 physicians per 1000 population in 2012. While the EU13 average (2.74) is slightly lower, the EU15 average (3.68) is very similar, as Fig. 4.2 shows. Only in recent years has the Czech Republic approached EU averages; prior to 2004 there was a wider gap. The increase in the Czech Republic’s physician-to-population ratio since 1990 is in line with the general development within the EU and is very similar to neighbouring Member States, with the exception of Poland (Fig. 4.2).”

Source: Alexa J, Rečka L, Votápková J, van Ginneken E, Spranger A, Wittenbecher F. Czech Republic: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2015; 17(1):1–165.

“The number of patients registered with a physician varies across the Czech Republic and across specializations. The national average for the number of patients registered with a GP was 1632 at the end of 2012, with the highest numbers of patients per GP in Středočeský and Pardubický regions (1841) and the lowest number of patients per GP in Prague and Olomoucký regions (fewer than 1500) (UZIS, 2013c). An average paediatrician in the Czech Republic attended to 949 children, with a minimum in Prague (866) and a maximum in Středočeský and Ústecký regions (1023). On average, 3211 women were registered per gynaecologist in the Czech Republic in 2012, with the minimum in Prague (2488) and the maximum in Pardubický region (3852) (UZIS, 2013c; see also sections 5.3 and 7.3.2).

“The ratio of dentists to population in the Czech Republic is above the EU28 average (Fig. 4.3). The distribution of dentists within the country is again uneven, with a higher-than-proportional share of dentists in urban areas. The minimum number of registered patients per dentist was 999 in Prague, the maximum 1444 in Vysočina (ÚZIS, 2013c). The high density of most health professionals in the Prague region is also explained by the fact that they also provide services to patients who only formally reside in other regions or who commute. This is especially relevant in cases of specialized treatments.”

Source: Alexa J, Rečka L, Votápková J, van Ginneken E, Spranger A, Wittenbecher F. Czech Republic: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2015; 17(1):1–165.

Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems in the US and sixteen other nations.

Page last updated Nov. 12, 2022 by Doug McVay, Editor.