Skip to content
World Health Systems Facts

Germany: Health System Physical Resources and Utilization

Germany: Health System Physical Resources and Utilization

German Health System Overview
Health System Rankings
Outcomes
Health System Coverage
Costs for Consumers
Health System Expenditures
Germany’s COVID-19 Strategy

Health System Financing
Medical Personnel
Health System Physical Resources and Utilization
Long-Term Care
Medical Training
Health Information and Communications Technologies
Pharmaceuticals

Political System
Economic System
Population Demographics
People With Disabilities
Aging
Social Determinants & Health Equity
Health System History
Health System Challenges


Hospital Beds Per 1,000 Population (2020): 7.82
Doctors Consultations (In All Settings) (Number Per Capita) (2020): 9.5
Hospital Average Length of Stay (All Causes) (2020): 8.7
Computed Tomography Scanners (Per Million Population) (2018): 35.33
Magnetic Imaging Resonance Units (Per Million Population) (2018): 34.47

Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. OECD.Stat. Last accessed Sept. 6, 2022.


“By international standards, the German inpatient care sector is large and varied. In 2017 Germany had 6.02 acute care beds per 1000 population, which is second highest in the EU after Bulgaria. Although acute hospital capacities have been reduced since 2000, the number of acute hospital beds is considerably higher than in neighbouring countries and almost 65% higher than the EU 28 average (Figure 4.1). This is partly due to a higher starting point in acute care bed capacities, and also due to a more pronounced decrease in other countries.

“Table 4.1 shows a substantial shift in the provision of inpatient care: the numbers of curative (or acute) hospital and rehabilitative care beds have decreased simultaneously (by more than 60,000 beds and 24,600 beds respectively between 2000 and 2017). At the same time, psychiatric care beds increased by almost 20% (or 17,400 beds) (see Section 5.11 Mental health care), while the number of beds in nursing and residential care has grown by 40% or 307,000 beds respectively (Statistisches Bundesamt, 2018b).”

Source: Blümel M, Spranger A, Achstetter K, Maresso A, Busse R. Germany: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2020; 22(6): pp.i–273.


“In 2018 there were a total of 1925 hospitals providing 498,192 beds. Of these, 552 hospitals were publicly owned, 650 were private not-for-profit and 723 private for-profit hospitals, with bed shares of 48%, 33% and 19% respectively. Privately owned hospitals have, on average, 132 beds compared to an average of 433 beds in publicly owned hospitals. The number of publicly owned hospitals (general and “other”) almost halved between 1991 and 2018, whereas the number of private hospitals doubled over this period (Statistisches Bundesamt, 2020g). Moreover, there are vast regional differences regarding private for-profit ownership of hospitals: in Hamburg 41 out of 56 hospitals (73%) were under private ownership in 2018, while in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania more than half of the hospitals were privately owned. On the other hand, Saarland had only 0.6% privately owned hospitals in 2018. The 1585 acute care hospitals provide the overwhelming share of hospital beds (91%). The 279 psychiatric hospitals had a total of 46,610 beds in 2018 (9%) while the 61 day surgery hospitals have no beds.

“Using the categories of contractual status with sickness funds, acute hospitals fall into four groups: 1) 35 university hospitals, which account for approximatively 10% of all acute care hospital beds; 2) 1527 hospitals enlisted in state hospital requirement plans (87.7% of acute care hospital beds); 3) 138 acute hospitals additionally contracted by sickness funds according to §109 SGB V (1.7% of acute care beds); and 4) 160 acute hospitals without such contracts (0.5%). In the latter category, hospital services are not covered by SHI and are thus only accessible for privately insured and self-paying patients (the latter may also include patients with SHI).”

Source: Blümel M, Spranger A, Achstetter K, Maresso A, Busse R. Germany: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2020; 22(6): pp.i–273.


“Germany has a very large hospital inpatient sector, with 7.9 hospital beds per 1,000 population – the highest in the EU and 50 % more than the EU average (5.3 beds). Bed capacity has been reduced by only 13 % since 2000, whereas countries like Finland and Denmark have reduced capacity by more than 40 % over the same period. This high capacity has long been criticised on efficiency grounds, and there are calls to reduce overcapacity. It is noteworthy, though, that during the COVID-19 crisis the high number of hospitals and acute and intensive care beds were available as a reserve to cope with the increase in patients (see Section 5.3).

“Germany also has high numbers of physicians and nurses, with per population ratios and growth rates well above the EU average (Figure 9). Growth in physician numbers has been particularly strong for hospital physicians. Since 2004, when the diagnosis-related group (DRG)-based hospital payment system was introduced, the number of doctors (by head count) in hospitals increased by 42 % (from 138,000 to 196,000 in 2017), while the number of doctors in ambulatory care increased by 25 %. Nevertheless, given the high number of hospital beds, the physician to bed ratio is comparatively low, and the nurse to bed ratio is one of the lowest in the EU.”

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


“In hospitals that are included in the hospital requirement plans, capital investment in high-cost medical equipment is financed by the states (see Section 4.1.1 Infrastructure, capital stock and investments). In 2018, 1095 out of the total of 1925 hospitals were equipped with 12,631 high-cost medical devices. Out of these, 1529 were computed tomography (CT) scanners, 5773 dialysis machines, 1174 angiography units, 478 gamma cameras, 123 positron emission tomography (PET) scanners, and 1007 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) units (Statistisches Bundesamt, 2020g). For hospitals not eligible for state funding and for the ambulatory care sector, funding of high-cost medical technology must be amortized through reimbursements by the sickness funds or private capital.”

Source: Blümel M, Spranger A, Achstetter K, Maresso A, Busse R. Germany: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2020; 22(6): pp.i–273.


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 Jan. 25, 2023 by Doug McVay, Editor.

  • Home
  • About Health Systems Facts
    • Contact Us
    • Join Our Email List
  • Breaking News & Opinion
  • Upcoming Events
  • Seventeen National Health Systems
    • Austria
    • Canada
    • Costa Rica
    • Czech Republic
    • Denmark
    • France
    • Germany
    • Hungary
    • Italy
    • Japan
    • Netherlands
    • South Korea
    • Spain
    • Sweden
    • Switzerland
    • United Kingdom
    • United States
  • Comparing National Health Systems
    • Healthcare Access and Quality Index
    • Sustainable Development Goals Health Index
    • Mirror Mirror 2021
    • World Health Report 2000
    • International Health Systems In Perspective
    • Lessons for US Health Reform
  • Aging
  • Health System Outcomes
  • Healthcare Spending
  • Healthcare Workers
    • Health System Personnel
    • Health Workforce Training
  • Information and Communications Technologies
  • Long-Term Services and Supports
  • People With Disabilities
  • Pharmaceutical Pricing and Regulation
  • Social Determinants Of Health
  • Wasteful Spending
  • Various US Health System Proposals
    • Affordable Care Act
    • All Payer
    • Public Option
    • Single Payer / “Medicare For All”
    • Universal Health Coverage
  • Recommended Resources
  • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

© 2019-2022 Real Reporting Foundation | Theme by WordPress Theme Detector

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
_GRECAPTCHA5 months 27 daysThis cookie is set by Google. In addition to certain standard Google cookies, reCAPTCHA sets a necessary cookie (_GRECAPTCHA) when executed for the purpose of providing its risk analysis.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement1 yearThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Advertisement".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
CookieDurationDescription
_ga2 yearsThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors.
_gat_UA-71314304-21 minuteThis is a pattern type cookie set by Google Analytics, where the pattern element on the name contains the unique identity number of the account or website it relates to. It appears to be a variation of the _gat cookie which is used to limit the amount of data recorded by Google on high traffic volume websites.
_gcl_au3 monthsThis cookie is used by Google Analytics to understand user interaction with the website.
_gid1 dayThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the website is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages visted in an anonymous form.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
CookieDurationDescription
IDE1 year 24 daysUsed by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. This is used to present users with ads that are relevant to them according to the user profile.
test_cookie15 minutesThis cookie is set by doubleclick.net. The purpose of the cookie is to determine if the user's browser supports cookies.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo