Countries With the Fastest Growth in Physicians per 1,000 (5-Year Change)

Name: Countries With the Fastest Growth in Physicians per 1,000 (5-Year Change)
Creator: The World Bank
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Change in Physicians per 1,000 over the five years to each country's latest year, in points (a share or rate is not shown as a % of itself). Only countries that rose are listed. Source: The World Bank (CC BY 4.0).

Summary

Poland rose the most: by 1.69, from 2.34 physicians per 1,000 people to 4.03 physicians per 1,000 people in the five years to 2023. Cuba is second (+1.54), followed by China (+1.11). 105 countries rose over that period; the median change among them was +0.274.

#1: Poland · +1.69
Median: +0.274
Coverage: 105 countries
Data year: 2022
Last updated: 2026-11-14

Top 10: 5-year change (physicians per 1,000 people). Bar chart of the top 10: 1. Poland 1.69; 2. Cuba 1.54; 3. China 1.11; 4. Russian Federation 1.05; 5. Dominican Republic 1; 6. Cyprus 0.905; 7. Moldova 0.812; 8. Chile 0.765; 9. Portugal 0.748; 10. Mongolia 0.723.

Full ranking

Countries With the Fastest Growth in Physicians per 1,000 (5-Year Change), 2022
Rank	Country	From	To	5-year change (physicians per 1,000 people)
1	Poland	2.34	4.03	+1.69
2	Cuba	8	9.54	+1.54
3	China	2	3.11	+1.11
4	Russian Federation	4.06	5.11	+1.05
5	Dominican Republic	1.43	2.43	+1
6	Cyprus	2.65	3.56	+0.905
7	Moldova	3.2	4.02	+0.812
8	Chile	2.57	3.33	+0.765
9	Portugal	5.1	5.85	+0.748
10	Mongolia	3.41	4.13	+0.723
11	Romania	2.91	3.63	+0.713
12	Jordan	2.22	2.85	+0.629
13	Ireland	3.28	3.88	+0.599
14	Costa Rica	2.1	2.69	+0.586
15	Suriname	0.787	1.36	+0.568
16	Lebanon	2.12	2.68	+0.557
17	Malta	3.97	4.51	+0.548
18	Andorra	4.54	5.07	+0.533
19	Qatar	2.5	3.02	+0.518
20	Greece	6.07	6.58	+0.509
21	Norway	4.47	4.98	+0.509
22	Ecuador	1.81	2.31	+0.507
23	Saudi Arabia	2.9	3.41	+0.507
24	Uzbekistan	2.3	2.81	+0.507
25	Croatia	3.4	3.91	+0.505
26	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2.08	2.58	+0.501
27	Denmark	4	4.5	+0.499
28	Malaysia	1.86	2.34	+0.483
29	Iceland	3.89	4.37	+0.482
30	United Kingdom	2.83	3.3	+0.473
31	Armenia	2.9	3.36	+0.457
32	Singapore	2.39	2.83	+0.445
33	Spain	3.85	4.29	+0.44
34	Türkiye	1.81	2.24	+0.431
35	Australia	3.66	4.09	+0.43
36	Barbados	2.54	2.96	+0.417
37	Canada	2.41	2.82	+0.408
38	United Arab Emirates	2.61	2.99	+0.387
39	Maldives	1.86	2.24	+0.373
40	New Zealand	3.25	3.61	+0.358
41	Syrian Arab Republic	1.17	1.52	+0.349
42	Israel	3.48	3.8	+0.32
43	Eswatini	0.238	0.557	+0.319
44	Peru	1.37	1.69	+0.315
45	Netherlands	3.57	3.88	+0.311
46	Germany	4.23	4.53	+0.308
47	Iran, Islamic Rep.	1.51	1.81	+0.306
48	Colombia	2.24	2.54	+0.293
49	Czechia	4.07	4.35	+0.284
50	Belgium	3.29	3.57	+0.282
51	Viet Nam	0.825	1.11	+0.282
52	Austria	5.24	5.52	+0.274
53	Slovak Republic	3.42	3.7	+0.274
54	Pakistan	0.89	1.16	+0.27
55	Korea, Rep.	2.34	2.61	+0.267
56	Nepal	0.749	1.01	+0.262
57	Slovenia	3.11	3.37	+0.26
58	Bhutan	0.31	0.553	+0.243
59	Korea, Dem. People's Rep.	3.39	3.63	+0.238
60	Palau	1.57	1.81	+0.235
61	Samoa	0.329	0.561	+0.232
62	Belarus	4.49	4.72	+0.231
63	Kazakhstan	3.53	3.75	+0.223
64	Iraq	0.8	1.02	+0.222
65	Latvia	3.21	3.4	+0.193
66	Italy	4	4.19	+0.192
67	Finland	3.42	3.61	+0.189
68	Switzerland	4.3	4.48	+0.18
69	Mexico	2.41	2.59	+0.179
70	Sri Lanka	0.958	1.14	+0.178
71	Luxembourg	2.81	2.98	+0.177
72	Sweden	4.23	4.41	+0.175
73	Serbia	2.94	3.1	+0.162
74	Philippines	0.631	0.792	+0.161
75	Bangladesh	0.573	0.722	+0.149
76	Bulgaria	4.18	4.33	+0.144
77	Benin	0.073	0.216	+0.143
78	Hungary	3.33	3.46	+0.13
79	Kenya	0.16	0.289	+0.129
80	Liberia	0.051	0.178	+0.127
81	Ghana	0.144	0.266	+0.122
82	Thailand	0.433	0.541	+0.108
83	Indonesia	0.421	0.524	+0.103
84	Mozambique	0.077	0.175	+0.098
85	Mauritania	0.188	0.261	+0.073
86	Mali	0.12	0.188	+0.068
87	Ethiopia	0.075	0.143	+0.068
88	Burkina Faso	0.082	0.148	+0.066
89	France	3.22	3.28	+0.064
90	Timor-Leste	0.69	0.752	+0.062
91	Tunisia	1.26	1.32	+0.057
92	Cambodia	0.167	0.211	+0.044
93	Panama	1.59	1.63	+0.036
94	Chad	0.05	0.085	+0.035
95	Angola	0.212	0.244	+0.032
96	Cabo Verde	0.711	0.73	+0.019
97	Uganda	0.172	0.191	+0.019
98	South Africa	0.775	0.794	+0.019
99	Eritrea	0.071	0.088	+0.017
100	Nigeria	0.364	0.38	+0.016

Showing the top 100 of 105. Premium downloads the full list as CSV or JSON.

About the top 10

#1 Poland

Poland ranks #1 on this list with +1.69.

Capital: Warsaw
Continent: Europe
Income group: High income
Population: 36.44 million people (2025)
GDP: US$1.04 trillion (2025)
GDP per person: US$28,420 (2025)
Life expectancy: 78.4 years (2024)
Urban population: 60.1% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Katowice urban area, Warsaw, Kraków.

Also ranks #2 in tourism arrivals · #7 in alcohol consumption per capita · #10 in rail lines (total km).

Full country profile Weather in Warsaw (Purr Weather)

#2 Cuba

Cuba ranks #2 on this list with +1.54.

Capital: Havana
Continent: North America
Income group: Upper middle income
Population: 10.94 million people (2025)
GDP: US$107.35 billion (2020)
GDP per person: US$9,605 (2020)
Life expectancy: 78.3 years (2024)
Urban population: 77.2% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Havana.

Also ranks #1 in physicians per 1,000 · #2 in women in parliament share · #3 in immunisation (measles) rate.

Full country profile

#3 China

China ranks #3 on this list with +1.11.

Capital: Beijing
Continent: Asia
Income group: Upper middle income
Population: 1.41 billion people (2025)
GDP: US$19.5 trillion (2025)
GDP per person: US$13,862 (2025)
Life expectancy: 78 years (2024)
Urban population: 66.3% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing.

Also ranks #1 in urban population · #1 in gdp ppp · #1 in labour force size.

Full country profile Weather in Shanghai (Purr Weather)

#4 Russian Federation

Russian Federation ranks #4 on this list with +1.05.

Capital: Moscow
Continent: Europe
Income group: High income
Population: 143.51 million people (2025)
GDP: US$2.56 trillion (2025)
GDP per person: US$17,547 (2025)
Life expectancy: 73.4 years (2024)
Urban population: 75.3% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk.

Also ranks #1 in land area · #1 in surface area · #1 in forest area.

Full country profile

#5 Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic ranks #5 on this list with +1.

Capital: Santo Domingo
Continent: North America
Income group: Upper middle income
Population: 11.52 million people (2025)
GDP: US$127.41 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$11,059 (2025)
Life expectancy: 73.9 years (2024)
Urban population: 72.5% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Santo Domingo.

Also ranks #4 in crop production index · #14 in deposit interest rate · #19 in remittances received.

Full country profile

#6 Cyprus

Cyprus ranks #6 on this list with +0.905.

Capital: Nicosia
Continent: Europe
Income group: High income
Population: 1.37 million people (2025)
GDP: US$41.23 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$41,783 (2025)
Life expectancy: 81.8 years (2024)
Urban population: 66.7% of population (2025)

Also ranks #3 in school enrolment (tertiary) · #4 in secure internet servers per million · #4 in immunisation (measles) rate.

Full country profile

#7 Moldova

Moldova ranks #7 on this list with +0.812.

Capital: Chișinău
Continent: Europe
Income group: Upper middle income
Population: 2.36 million people (2025)
GDP: US$20.35 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$8,622 (2025)
Life expectancy: 71.3 years (2024)
Urban population: 43.7% of population (2025)

Also ranks #1 in real effective exchange rate index · #2 in female population share · #5 in arable land share.

Full country profile

#8 Chile

Chile ranks #8 on this list with +0.765.

Capital: Santiago
Continent: South America
Income group: High income
Population: 19.86 million people (2025)
GDP: US$357.37 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$17,995 (2025)
Life expectancy: 81.4 years (2024)
Urban population: 89.2% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Santiago, Santo Domingo.

Also ranks #5 in mineral rents share of gdp · #7 in school enrolment (tertiary) · #10 in fish production.

Full country profile

#9 Portugal

Portugal ranks #9 on this list with +0.748.

Capital: Lisbon
Continent: Europe
Income group: High income
Population: 10.81 million people (2025)
GDP: US$346.64 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$32,082 (2025)
Life expectancy: 82.4 years (2024)
Urban population: 61.5% of population (2025)

Also ranks #3 in age dependency ratio (old) · #5 in population ages 65+ share · #5 in physicians per 1,000.

Full country profile Weather in Lisbon (Purr Weather)

#10 Mongolia

Mongolia ranks #10 on this list with +0.723.

Capital: Ulaanbaatar
Continent: Asia
Income group: Upper middle income
Population: 3.57 million people (2025)
GDP: US$25.37 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$7,108 (2025)
Life expectancy: 72.4 years (2024)
Urban population: 71.1% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Ulaanbaatar.

Also ranks #3 in mineral rents share of gdp · #4 in bank branches per 100,000 adults · #5 in hospital beds per 10,000.

Full country profile Weather in Ulaanbaatar (Purr Weather)

Profile facts: World Bank (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata (CC0); weather links go to Purr Weather, another ChowChow Labs site.

Source and method

Change in Physicians per 1,000 over the five years to each country's latest year, in points (a share or rate is not shown as a % of itself). Only countries that rose are listed.

Source: The World Bank, indicator SH.MED.PHYS.ZS. Licence: CC BY 4.0. Retrieved: 2026-11-14.

The World Bank: Physicians (per 1,000 people): Global Health Workforce Statistics, World Health Organization (WHO) (via World Development Indicators)

Original data provider, as recorded by the World Bank: Global Health Workforce Statistics, World Health Organization (WHO); Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Country data.

Values are shown as published (changes are computed from the published values). Provider terms: The World Bank. All licences: Sources & licences.

Summary

Full ranking

About the top 10

#1 Poland

#2 Cuba

#3 China

#4 Russian Federation

#5 Dominican Republic

#6 Cyprus

#7 Moldova

#8 Chile

#9 Portugal

#10 Mongolia

Related rankings

Source and method