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Share of foreign-trained doctors, 2021: 8.2%
Medical graduates per 100,000 population, 2021: 16.2
Practicing nurses per 1,000 population, 2021: 5.3
Share of foreign-trained nurses, 2021: 1.6%
Nursing graduates per 100,000 population, 2021: 36.2

Source: OECD (2023), Health at a Glance 2023: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/7a7afb35-en.

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“Between 2010 and 2020, the number of people obtaining a medical degree from a Hungarian university grew by over 50%. A rise in the number of graduates explains in part an increase in the number of doctors per capita in the country: as of 2019, there are 3.5 doctors per 1,000 people, a figure 30 % higher than in 2000 but below the EU average of 3.9. Over the same period, the number of nurses grew by 25 % to 6.6 per 1 000 people, which is also below the EU average of 8.4.

“Workforce shortages have been a problem in Hungary for many years – one largely attributed to low wages. As a result, it is common for health professionals to emigrate to western Europe – particularly since the country’s accession to the EU in 2004.”

Source: OECD/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (2021), Hungary: Country Health Profile 2021, State of Health in the EU, OECD Publishing, Paris/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Brussels.

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

Page last updated February 21, 2025 by Doug McVay, Editor.