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  • Physicians, paediatric group of specialties (physical persons), per 100 000 Physicians, paediatric group of specialties (physical persons), per 100 000 (Line chart)
  • Physicians, paediatric group of specialties (physical persons), per 100 000 Physicians, paediatric group of specialties (physical persons), per 100 000 (Bar chart)
  • Physicians, paediatric group of specialties (PP), per 100 000 Physicians, paediatric group of specialties (PP), per 100 000 (Boxplot chart)
Data set notes
European Health for All database

Indicators: 618
Updated: 24 January 2024

The following abbreviations are used in the indicator titles:
•    SDR: age-standardized death rates (see HFA-DB user manual/Technical notes, page 13, for details)
•    FTE: full-time equivalent
•    PP: physical persons
•    PPP$: purchasing power parities expressed in US $, an internationally comparable scale reflecting the relative domestic purchasing powers of currencies.

Indicator notes
Physicians, paediatric group of specialties (PP), per 100 000
Indicator code: E992738.T This indicator shares the definition with the parent indicator \"Number of physicians, paediatric specialties (PP)\".

Paediatricians deal with the development, care, and diseases of children.

Inclusion - Pediatricians - Neonatologists - Medical interns or residents specialising in paediatrics

Exclusion - Paediatric specialties (e.g. child psychiatry, child/paediatric surgery, child/paediatric gynaecology, paediatric cardiology, paediatric oncology, etc.)

Note: The number should be at the end of the calendar year._
Country/Area notes
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 pediatricians (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.
Inclusion: The number of Pediatricians who practice as GPs are excluded.
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).
Croatia
Source of data:ÿCroatian National Institute of Public Health, Health Manpower Register
Deviation from the definition: As some paediatrician?s work as primary health care physicians they
are not included in the general paediatricians number up to 2008.
Deviation from the definition: maxillofacial surgeons are 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: Adolescent medicine, Neonatalogy, Paediatrics.
Estimation method: Till 2000 only estimation of total number of specialists in pediatrics based on
split of total number pediatricians.
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 ?General paediatrics? refers to 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 in the category ?General paediatrics?. 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 child neurology and paediatricians 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 include paediatrics as reported in ADELI. Data exclude child surgery and child/adolescent
psychiatry.
- 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 paediatricians: 7240
in 2011 (compared with 7450 active paediatricians 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.
Deviation from the definition: The number of pediatricians also includes the number of
pediatrician-neonatologists.
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 ?general paediatrics? and excludes physicians with a
paediatric specialisation (e.g. paediatric surgery, paediatric oncology, neonatology, etc).
- 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:
- 2003 and onwards: The Directorate of Health, The Register of Physicians.
- Until 2002: The Directorate of Health. Data from inpatient care institutions, health centres and
The State Social Security Institute.
Reference period: 31st December.
Coverage:
- Head count data.
- 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-practising 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: Ministry of Health ? D.G. of Health Information System ? Office of Statistics,
Ministry of Health. Publication: ?Attivita gestionali ed economiche delle ASL e Aziende
ospedaliere?, Annuario Statistico del Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (published annually). Publication
available on the web site of the Ministry of Health.
http://www.salute.gov.it/portale/documentazione/p6_2_8_2.jsp?lingua=italiano.
Reference period: 1st January.
Coverage:
- Total survey on all paediatricians practising for the National Health System. They provide the
first level care to all citizens under 14 (consultations, visits, prescription of medicines, and
referrals for laboratory tests or specialist visits). Physicians in training are excluded.
- ?General paediatricians? include Ministry of Health data referring to paediatricians working as
family doctors, while paediatricians working as specialists are reported in the category \Other
specialists not elsewhere classified\"."
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: Data includes paediatricians and neonatologists. 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
(3-00-60).
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 (general paediatrics) 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 general paediatrics
or undergoing training in this specialty.
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 the Portuguese Medical Association.
Reference period: 31st December.
Coverage:
- All paediatricians licensed to practice (practising, active but not practising or inactive) are
included.
- Physicians with more than one specialisation, (e.g. General Practice and Pediatrics) will be
counted twice.
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, Activity of Sanitary Units ? annual survey performed by
NIS.
Reference period: data as of 31st December.
Coverage: From 1994-2004, the data cover General paediatrics only from Ministry of Health network.
Data from 2005 till 2009 refer to professionally active physicians from public and private sector.
Because in 2007 and 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 ?general paediatrics?, practising physicians are included whose main area of
practice is in general care for children and adolescents, juvenile medicine, and primary care for
children and adolescents 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 Primary Care Information System
(SIAP). http://www.msssi.gob.es/estadEstudios/estadisticas/estadisticas/estMinisterio/siap.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:
- Data include: number of persons who work in health care centres of the National Health System that
operate as general practitioners for children between 0 and 14 years + number of persons who work in
hospitals + interns and residents in training in this level of care since 2010.
Break in time series:
- Since 2010, data include paediatricians and medical interns and residents specialising in
paediatrics working in a hospital ( public and private).
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:
- General paediatric specialists and medical residents of paediatrics in all health care facilities
(excluding MOD) added to the number of general paediatricians.
- 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.
- Northern Ireland: Data exclude bank staff, research fellows, clinical assistants and
hospital/medical practitioners. Data from 2000 exclude staff on career breaks. The UK equivalent of
interns and residents, i.e. foundation doctors and registrars, will be included in this data.
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.