Albania

Source of data:
Reference period:

Austria

Source of data: Osterreichische Arztekammer - Vollerhebung / Austrian Medical Chamber - total of
members.
Reference period: December/January (reference day varies).
Coverage:
- excludes interns (\Turnusarzte\").
Deviation from definition:
- The Austrian Medical Chamber double counts physicians who have graduated as general practitioners
as well as specialists. This concerns about 200 to 280 cases in the most recent years. Therefore the
sum of physicians by categories is greater than the total number of practising physicians.
- Medical interns/residents cannot be separated by specialisation or progress of training."

Belarus

Source of data: National Statistics Committee of Belarus http://belstat.gov.by/; National Archives
of the Republic of Belarus http://narb.by/
Coverage: Data provided on medical practitioners. Interns are included in the category \Medical
doctors not further classified?.
Reporting period: 31 December.
Break in time series: 2010.
There was no formal separation of the profiles of medical specialties until 2009

Belgium

Source of data: Institut National d'Assurance Maladie Invalidite. ?Rapport Annuel?.
Reference period: 31st December.
Coverage:
- Head count data.
- Excludes non-practising physicians, retired professionals and professionals working abroad.
Includes professionals of foreign origin.
- Number of physicians with at least 1 patient contact.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Source: Public Health Institute of FB&H - Annual report health personnel with university degree by
specialization and sex in FB&H
Public Health Institute of Republica Srpska - Annual report health personnel with university degree
by specialization and sex in Republica Srpska

Bulgaria

Source of data: National Statistical Institute, Exhaustive annual survey
Reference period: 31st December
Coverage: All obstetrician and gynaecologists (head counts) who worked on a basic labour contract in
outpatient and inpatient establishments, as well as those who practice in other heath establishments
- centres for emergency medical care, centres for transfusion haematology, homes for medical and
social care for children, Hygiene-epidemiological inspections and others. Residents are included
(data refer to the speciality that has been practised).
Estimation method: Data on medical specialists refer to the practiced speciality.
Break in time series: For the 2007 reference year the survey methodology was changed in order to
improve the data comparability (because of a new Ordinance on an acquisition of specialty in the
health care system issued in the end of 2006 by the Ministry of Health and the Eurostat?s
questionnaire on non-expenditure health care data methodology requirements the list of medical
specialties included in the exhaustive survey carried out by the BNSI is changed).
Inclusion: Obstetrics and gynaecology.

Croatia

Source of data:ÿCroatian National Institute of Public Health, Health Manpower Register
Deviation from the definition: Obstetricians and gynaecologists who provide primary health care are
not included up to 2008.
Break in time series: 2009.

Cyprus

Source of data: Statistical Service of Cyprus, Health and Hospital Statistics.
For the years 1985, 1987, 1995 and 2000 figures were obtained from the Census of Doctors, Dentists
and Clinics.
Reference period: 31st December.

Czechia

Czech Republic

Source of data: Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic; Registry of
Physicians, Dentists and Pharmacists.
Reference period: 31st December.
Coverage: Gynaecology and obstetrics, Medical genetics, Paediatric gynaecology, Reproductive
medicine.
Break in time series: 2005 (a new legislation on medical professions came into effect in 2004).

Denmark

Source of data: National Board of Health, Labour Register for Health Personnel.
Reference period: 31st December. Data show the number for January first the following year.
Coverage:
- The data contain specialists working in hospitals, nursing and residential care facilities or in
providers of ambulatory health care.
- Data refer to \practising\" specialists.
- If the physician has more than one specialty

Estonia

Source of data:
- Annual reports, National Institute for Health Development, Department of Health Statistics.
Reference period: 31st of December.
Coverage:
- The category ?Obstetrics and gynaecology? presents practising physicians.
- Medical staff working in research or other areas is not included. The military area has been
included since 2010.
- Resident physicians are not included the category ?Obstetrics and gynaecology?. Data are not
available by specialties.
Break in time series: 2005.
- Until 2004, the number of practising physicians was based on their last or main educational
qualification.
- From 2005, the head count distribution is made according to their main occupational activity.

Finland

1) Until 2009
Source of data: Finnish Medical Association. Register of the Finnish Medical Association which is
updated by a yearly survey covering all physicians licensed to practice in Finland who are not
retired.
Reference period: Mid-March.
Deviation from the definition: Data refer to 'professionally active' physicians. The specialty is
according to the last specialty acquired.
Coverage: Includes physicians specialised in obstetrics and gynaecology and clinical genetics not
working in primary care.
2) 2010
Source of data: Finnish Medical Association. Data from a survey: \Physicians? Working Conditions and
Health? 2010 survey.
Reference period: End of year.
Coverage: Survey for 7

France

Source of data: Ministere du Travail, de l?Emploi et de la Sante - Direction de la Recherche, des
Etudes, de l'Evaluation et des Statistiques (DREES), Sous-Direction de l'Observation de la Sante et
de l'Assurance maladie, Bureau des Professions de sante.
- Until 2010 (01/01/2011): Repertoire ADELI (DREES).
- From 2011 (01/01/2012): RPPS (Repertoire partage des professionnels de sante), ASIP-SANTE RPPS.
Reference period: 31st December.
Coverage:
- Data refer to active physicians.
- Data refer to metropolitan France and D.O.M. (overseas departments).
- Data correspond to ADELI codes 17 (medical gynecology), 18 (obstetric gynecology), 32
(obstetrics), 48 (medical and obstetric gynecology), and 68 (genetics).
- Interns and residents are not included.
Deviation from the definition:
- The data refer to active physicians.
- Interns and residents are not included.
Break in time series:
- In 2009 (01/01/2010), there is a break in the series for physicians because of a change in the
statistical methodology.
- In 2011 (01/01/2012), there is a second break in the series because of the change in the data
source (RPPS since 2011).
Note: The new source (RPPS) makes it possible to give the number of practising obstetricians and
gynaecologists: 7991 in 2011 (compared with 8052 active obstetricians and gynaecologists in 2011).

Georgia

Source of data: Data are based on annual statistical reports collected from health establishments to
the Ministry of Health and include both, public and private sectors and also facilities working
under other Ministries, such as Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of
Defence.
Reference period: 31 December 2012

Coverage: The provided data cover all regions except separatist regions, Abkhazia and South Osetia.
Data for those two regions are unavailable.

Germany

Germany

Source of data: German Medical Association, Medical practitioner statistics; special calculation by
the Federal Statistical Office on base of data from the German Medical Association,
http://www.gbe-bund.de or http://www.baek.de.
Reference period: 31st December.
Coverage:
- Data contain the number of specialists who are actively practising medicine in public and private
institutions and provide services directly to patients (head-count data).
- Includes practising physicians with specialty ?gynaecology and obstetrics? and ?human genetics?.
Excluded are practising physicians with specialty ?gynaecological oncology?.
- Includes interns/residents.

Greece

Source of data: Hygiene Divisions and Sections attached to prefectures, Athens Medical Association
and Pireas Medical Association. Annual Doctors and Dentists survey,
http://www.statistics.gr/portal/page/portal/ESYE/PAGE-themes?p_param=A2103.
Reference period: 31st December.
Deviation from the definition: Data refer to professionally active physicians. Unemployed physicians
are included.

Hungary

Source of data: Office of Health Care Authorisation and Administrative Procedures.
Reference period: 31st December.
Coverage:
- Head count data. Excludes non-practising physicians, retired professionals and professionals
working abroad. Includes professionals who are foreigners.
- The Office of Health Authorisation and Administrative Procedures (EEKH) provided data according to
the dominant specialisation practiced during medical work.
- Residents are excluded.

Iceland

Source of data: The Directorate of Health, The Register of Physicians.
Reference period: 31st December.
Coverage:
- Head count.
- Includes female endocrinology
- Includes those physicians who are 70 years old or younger with permanent residence and registered
domicile in Iceland (Icelanders or foreigners).
- Excludes retired professionals and professionals working abroad.
- May include a very small number of non-practicing physicians.
- Physicians in training are not included (unless they already have another specialisation) as data
are based on The Register of physicians, and only those who have gained the respected specialty are
registered.
- In cases where a physician has more than one specialty, the counted specialisation is the newest
specialty. Should two specialities be registered on the same day, the one that is more specialised
is included.

Ireland

Source of data: Medical Council of Ireland.
Reference period: Data refer to 31st December.
Coverage:
- Data come from the registration statistics of the Medical Council of Ireland and include
physicians registered by the Medical Council of Ireland who have entered and maintained their name
as fully registered doctors in the Register of Medical Practitioners Specialist Division and Trainee
Specialist Division (from 2011), regardless of whether or not they are practising medicine.
Specialists can be registered for more than one specialty. Physicians with more than one specialty
are counted within each specialty separately, as it is not possible to extract them individually.
Therefore, a small number of physicians may be counted twice in the data. As a result, the sum of
specialist groups does not equal the total specialist medical practitioners.
- Registration is a pre-requisite for practice in Ireland. It is not possible to exclude physicians
working in administration, research or other posts that exclude direct contact with patients. These
physicians can still be registered as a medical practitioner and are therefore included.
Deviation from the definition: Data refer to physicians licensed to practice.
Break in time series: 2011. Since 2011, the data include the number of training posts which were
completed during the year. This will NOT represent the number of doctors who undertook training in
the Trainee Specialist Division but the number of posts where training was completed during the
year.ÿTherefore, doctors will have been in a number of different posts throughout the calendar year.

Israel

Israel

Source of data: The data are based on the Physician License Registry maintained by the Medical
Professions Division and the Health Information Division in the Ministry of Health, for which the
demographic information is periodically updated from the Population Registry at the Ministry of
Interior. The source of residents' data is the Israeli Medical Association.
Reference period: End of the year.
Coverage:
- Data are for the number of professionally active physicians.
- Data include last specialty and residents at the end of the year.
Deviation from the definition: Data refer to professionally active physicians.
Note: The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant
Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the
Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of
international law.

Italy

Source of data: ISTAT provides data produced by CEGEDIM ITALIA - One Key database.
http://crm.cegedim.com/solutions/data/data-overview/Pages/onekey-database.aspx.
Reference period: 31st December.
Coverage: Data refer to practising physicians by categories. Physicians in training are excluded.

Latvia

Source of data:
- Since 2005: Health Inspectorate of Latvia; Medical Persons' Register.
- 2004 and earlier: Health Statistics and Medical Technologies State Agency; Statistical Report
No.17 \Report About Medical Staff\".
Reference period: 31 December
Coverage: Interns and residents are included.
Break in times series: 2005 change in data source."

Lithuania

Source of data: Health Information Centre of Institute of Hygiene, data of entire annual survey of
health establishments. Report ?Health Statistics of Lithuania?, available from
http://sic.hi.lt/html/en/hsl.htm.
Predominant area of practice is used as criterion to classify physicians by categories.
Reference period: 31st December.
Coverage: Up to 2010 residents are excluded. Since 2011 residents are included in respective
category of physicians.
Break in time series:
- 2011: Since year 2011, interns and residents are included in the respective category of physicians
by specialities. In year 2010 and earlier, interns and residents were included in the category
Medical doctors not further defined.

Luxembourg

Source of data: Direction de la Sante - Service des statistiques. Register of doctors and health
professionals. Reference period: 31st December.
Coverage:
Until 1999:
- Includes physicians working in administration and research.
- Retired physicians are not included. However, the end of activity of self-employed physicians is
often noted with some time lag.
From 2000:
- Doctors who do not work in direct contact with patients (laboratories, administration, R&D, etc)
are excluded, and interns are included.
Break in time series: 2000.

Malta

Source of data: Specialist Registers and data from the Post Graduate Training Centre, Mater Dei
Hospital.
Reference period: 31st December.
Note: Accurate figures are only available from end 2008. The predominant area of practice was used
to classify physicians by categories.

Montenegro

Source of data: The source for all data submitted is the Institute of Public Health. Some additional
information can be found in Health Statistical Yearbooks available at http://www.ijzcg.me/
Reference period: December 31st.
Coverage: Only data from the public sector.
The criteria used for the data was the last specialty for which doctors have received registration.
Note: the breakdown was provided for professionally active physicians

Netherlands

Source of data:
- Up to and including 1998: The BIG register (register installed by the Individual Health Care
Professions Act), annual report (primary source: KNMG, Medisch Specialisten Registratie Commissie -
Royal Dutch Society for the Advancement of Medicine, Medical Specialists Registration Commission).
- From 1999 onwards: Data for professionally active and licensed physicians based on BIG register
(register of (para)medical professions) and SSB database (micro-integrated database of Statistics
Netherlands with data from the municipal register, tax register, social security, and business
register).
Doctors in training: KNMG (Royal Dutch Society for the Advancement of Medicine).
Deviation from the definition: Data refer to professionally active physicians since 1999; data up to
1998 refer to physicians licensed to practice.
Break in time series: 1999.

North Macedonia

Source of data: Institute for Public Health ?Skopje. Report for health staff in health sector.
Reference period: 31st December.
Coverage: Interns and residents are included.
Up until 2005, the data sets for private sector are incomplete, because private sector physicians
were not sending reports regularly to the relevant organisations and the data for physicians by
categories does not sum up to the total number of professionally active physicians. Since 2006, more
strict controls for regular reporting were put into practice by the Ministry of Health, which
resulted in very accurate report sending and vastly improved evidence of health personnel. Since
year 2006, private sector physicians are included and the sum of physicians by categories equals the
total number of physicians.
Deviation from the definition: Physicians (spec. ? obstetricians and gynaecologists) are
'professionally active'.
Break in the series: 2006.

Norway

Source of data:
- From 2002: Statistics Norway; Register-based statistics on employment of health-care personnel.
See http://www.ssb.no/hesospers_en/.
- Earlier years: Norwegian Medical Association.
Reference period: 3rd week of November.
Coverage:
- Data on medical specialists are based on each physician's latest specialty. Each individual may
have as many as three specialties, but only one of them is counted here.
- The figures include only the specialists within HP1-HP3. Specialists working outside these fields
are not included.
Break in time series: 2002. The figures from 1993 and 1998 are the figures received from the
Norwegian Medical Association and are not directly comparable with the figures from 2002 and
onwards.
2011: The number of specialists is based on practising physicians according to occupational data

Poland

Source of data: Ministry of Health, Ministry of Interior and Administration, Ministry of National
Defence.
Reference period: 31st December.
Coverage: Physicians with grade II specialisation or with title of specialist in obstetrics and
gynaecology, clinical genetics or undergoing training in these specialties.
Break in time series: 2010. Before 2010, neonatologists were included in this category.
Note: Grade I and grade II specialisations were granted when the previous system was in force.
Doctors, according to Polish law, could achieve this by September 1998. Obtaining a grade II
specialisation is equivalent to the current title of specialist, but the grade I specialisation is
not equivalent to the title of specialist and has no counterpart in the current system of
specialised training.

Portugal

Source of data: Statistics Portugal and Portuguese Medical Association.
Reference period: 31st December.
Coverage:
- These data refer to Obstetricians, Gynecologists and more recently also to Geneticists licensed to
practice.
- All physicians (practising, active but not practising or inactive) are included.
Deviation from the definition:
- Data refer to physicians licensed to practice.
- Some physicians are licensed to practice in more than one specialty. These physicians are
accounted in all specialties they have. Therefore the sum of physicians by categories is higher than
the actual total number of physicians.

Republic of Moldova

Source of data: Ministry of Health of the Republic of Moldova, National Centre for Health
Management, Annual statistical report N17 ?On staff and cadres of health institutions?.
http://cnms.md/areas/statistics/anyar/.
Reference period: Data as of December 31.
Coverage: Data exclude Transnistria.
Deviation from the definition: Foreign physicians are not included. Interns and residents are not
included.

Romania

Source of data:
Ministry of Health for the period 1994-2004, provided the medical specialist in its network.
National Institute of Statistics since 2005.
Reference period: data as of 31st December.
Coverage: From 1994-2004, the data cover obstetricians and gynaecologists physicians only from
Ministry of Health network Data from 2005 till 2009 refer to all professionally active physicians
from public and private sector. Includes: Obstetric and Gynecology specialties. Because in 2007and
2008 the total number of residents was included in Generalist medical physicians category, NIS used
estimates, in order to allocate residents physicians on specialties
For the residents in training, for years 2007 and 2008, estimations were used to determine their
distribution by category. The distribution was made by calculating the average percent of residents
in each category, in the total number of residents for 2009 and 2010. These percentages were applied
for years 2007 and 2008, using the total number of residents already known.
Break in the series:
- 2005 because were included also data from private sector and other public network.
- 2006 because the physicians by specialties include the residents.
- Since 2010 data refer to practising physicians.

Serbia

Source of data: Institute of Public Health of Serbia, National register on health care human
resources. http://www.batut.org.rs/
Reference period: 31st December
Coverage: Data for Kosovo-Metohija province are not included in the coverage of data for the
Republic of Serbia. Data from health institutions under the other ministries (military services,
prisons, social services) than the Ministry of Health are not included. Data from private health
sector are not included.
Note: Data refer to professionally active physicians.

Slovakia

Source of data: National Health Information Center. Data are provided from the Register of Health
Professionals.
Reference period: 31st December.
Coverage:
- In the category of ?obstetrics and gynaecology?, practising physicians are included whose main
area of practice is in gynaecology and obstetrics, paediatric gynaecology, medical genetics,
gynaecoligic sexuology, clinical genetics, oncology in gynaecology, USG in gynaecology and
obstetrics, and reproduction medicine in accordance with the definition.
- Data are available only for the year 2007. The new Register of Health Professionals was introduced
in 2007. This register is not updated every year; therefore data are available for 2007 only.
Moreover, past data are not available because of a different data processing system.

Slovenia

Source of data: The National Institute of Public Health of the Republic of Slovenia; National Health
Care Providers Database.
Reference period: 31st December.
Coverage: The National Health Care Providers Database is a registry with total (100 %) coverage of
health workers.

Spain

Source of data:
- Up to 2009: Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equity from Statistics on Health
Establishments Providing Inpatient Care (ESCRI).
http://www.msssi.gob.es/estadEstudios/estadisticas/estHospiInternado/inforAnual/homeESCRI.htm.
- Since 2010: Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equity from Specialised Care Information
System (Sistema de Informacion de Atencion Especializada - SIAE).
Reference period: 31st December.
Coverage:
- All public and private hospitals in Spain are included. Specialised out-patient clinics depending
on a general hospital (National Health System) also are included.
- Number of physicians employed by hospital.
- Doctors in training (interns and residents) are included in ?Obstetricians and gynaecologists?
since 2010 (until 2009, all doctors in training are included in the category ?Other specialists
n.e.c.?).
Deviation from the definition: Data refer only to specialists working in hospitals. Hence the sum of
physicians by categories does not correspond to the total number of physicians.
Break in time series: 2010.

Sweden

Source of data: National Board of Health and Welfare, National Planning Support (NPS) register.
Reference period: 1st November.
Coverage:
- Specialists include all physicians employed within the health-care sector possessing a specialist
competence (excluding competence in family medicine).
- 100 per cent coverage.

Switzerland

Source of data: FSO Federal Statistical Office, Neuchatel; Swiss Medical Association (FMH), Bern;
medical statistics of physicians; yearly census.
Deviation from the definition:
- Interns and residents are not included.
- Until 2007, the data refer to professionally active physicians.
Break in time series: 2008. Since 2008, the data refer to practising physicians.
Note: No data on physicians in training by categories are available.

Türkiye

Source of data: General Directorate for Health Services, Ministry of Health and ESPC Higher
Education Statistics.
Coverage:
- The number of obstetricians and gynaecologists includes obstetrics and gynaecology specialists and
medical residents of obstetrics and gynaecology in all health care facilities.
- All sectors (Ministry of Health, university, private and other) are included. MOD-affiliated
facilities are not included.
Deviation from the definition: Data refer to professionally active physicians.

Turkmenistan

Source of data: Report from of the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan. ? 17
?Health employment?
Reference period: 31 December.
Coverage: Includes data from institutions under the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of
Turkmenistan, data from other Ministries or sectors not included.

Ukraine

Source: Centre of Health Statistics, Ministry of Health. Data are based on annual statistical
reports from health establishments.
Coverage: Since 2009, data includes public and private sector.

United Kingdom

Source of data:
- England: Health & Social Care Information Centre: http://www.hscic.gov.uk.
- Scotland: Information Services Division, Scottish Workforce Information Standard System.
- Wales: Welsh Assembly Government: http://new.wales.gov.uk/topics/statistics/theme/health/?lang=en.

- Northern Ireland: Department for Health, Social Services and Public Safety:
http://www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/index/stats_research.
Reference period: Data as at 30th September.
Coverage:
- Does not include private sector.
Deviation from the definition:
- Scotland: The sum of GPs and specialists is greater than the total number of physicians due to
some staff holding more than one post. There is currently no conventional way of assigning such
staff to one group only.
Estimation Method:
- Northern Ireland: Department code has been used as an approximation of specialty.
- Wales: 2006 - With the exception of GP data, these data have been estimated by applying the
proportional breakdown from 2005 and 2007 to the 2006 total.
- Wales: 2012 - Welsh data were not available in time for this collection, so the previous year?s
figure was used instead. This will be updated with the correct data in next year?s collection.