Maps

Mapped: Highest and Lowest Doctor Density Around the World

Published

1 week ago

June 20, 2024

Pallavi Rao

Graphics/Design:

Bhabna Banerjee

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

Mapped: Highest and Lowest Doctor Density Around the World

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

This graphic maps and ranks the countries with the highest and lowest doctor density (measured per 10,000 population), according to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates as of 2022.

ℹ️ “Doctors” includes generalists, specialist medical practitioners and other medical doctors not further defined. Depending on the source country, may include only practicing physicians or all registered physicians.

Health worker density in general is an important metric tracked by the UN, as part of its sustainable development goals. A 2016 WHO study found that investing and expanding healthcare workforces improves economic growth.

Ranked: Doctors Per 10,000 Population

European countries, like Belgium, Georgia, and Austria, lead the ranks by the ratio of doctors to resident population. South American countries, represented by Uruguay and Argentina, also make the top 10.

Rank	Country	Doctors per 10K People (2022)
1	🇧🇪 Belgium	63.9
2	🇬🇪 Georgia	56.1
3	🇦🇹 Austria	55.1
4	🇱🇹 Lithuania	51.3
5	🇧🇬 Bulgaria	49.0
6	🇺🇾 Uruguay	46.3
7	🇮🇸 Iceland	45.2
8	🇨🇻 Cabo Verde	44.6
9	🇮🇹 Italy	42.5
10	🇦🇷 Argentina	40.8
11	🇵🇾 Paraguay	38.8
12	🇸🇨 Seychelles	38.2
13	🇮🇱 Israel	37.1
14	🇳🇿 New Zealand	35.7
15	🇨🇱 Chile	31.7
16	🇬🇧 UK	31.7
17	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	30.8
18	🇧🇧 Barbados	29.7
19	🇲🇪 Montenegro	27.5
20	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	26.4
21	🇨🇦 Canada	25.0
22	🇩🇴 Dominican Republic	22.3
23	🇴🇲 Oman	20.6
24	🇵🇪 Peru	16.2
25	🇸🇿 Eswatini	15.9
26	🇸🇻 El Salvador	15.5
27	🇲🇺 Mauritius	12.0
28	🇮🇶 Iraq	10.1
29	🇮🇩 Indonesia	6.9
30	🇧🇹 Bhutan	5.5
31	🇳🇦 Namibia	5.4
32	🇬🇦 Gabon	4.8
33	🇳🇬 Nigeria	3.9
34	🇧🇼 Botswana	3.8
35	🇿🇲 Zambia	2.6
36	🇦🇴 Angola	2.4
37	🇲🇷 Mauritania	2.4
38	🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau	2.1
39	🇧🇯 Benin	2.0
40	🇨🇩 DRC	1.9
41	🇲🇱 Mali	1.9
42	🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire	1.8
43	🇱🇷 Liberia	1.8
44	🇨🇬 Congo	1.7
45	🇺🇬 Uganda	1.7
46	🇿🇼 Zimbabwe	1.7
47	🇧🇫 Burkina Faso	1.5
48	🇱🇸 Lesotho	1.5
49	🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea	1.4
50	🇬🇭 Ghana	1.4
51	🇨🇲 Cameroon	1.3
52	🇸🇳 Senegal	1.3
53	🇹🇿 Tanzania	1.3
54	🇪🇹 Ethiopia	1.1
55	🇰🇪 Kenya	1.0
56	🇹🇩 Chad	0.9
57	🇲🇿 Mozambique	0.8
58	🇹🇬 Togo	0.8
59	🇪🇷 Eritrea	0.7
60	🇲🇼 Malawi	0.5
61	🇸🇱 Sierra Leone	0.4
62	🇬🇳 Guinea	0.2
63	🇳🇪 Niger	0.2
N/A	🌍 World	17.2

Note: Countries with 2022 data only.

Meanwhile, eight African countries have fewer than 1 doctor per 10,000 population. According to the Africa Report, medical students from the continent move abroad to complete their education, but often don’t return.

However, Cabo Verde, a small nation of 10 islands off the coast of Africa is a big regional outlier with 44.6 doctors per 10,000 population. The country has made strides in expanding healthcare services since it gained independence in 1975. In the same time, life expectancy increased from 56 to 75, and the infant mortality rate dropped from 108 to 15 deaths per 1,000 births.

A Look at the G7 Countries

Finally, here’s a quick summary at how the G7 countries do in doctor density, as per the latest estimates from the World Health Organization.

Germany and Italy lead with 42–45 doctors per 10,000 people. The U.S., UK, and France are between 31–32 per 10,000 population. Japan and Canada are significantly lower at 25–26 for 10,000 residents.

Up Next

Mapped: 15 Countries with the Highest Smoking Rates

Don't Miss

Mapped: The Population of China and India in Perspective

Click for Comments

Maps

Mapped: Median Income by State in 2024

This graphic shows median income by state in 2024, adjusted for cost of living. Can you guess where it’s the highest?

Published

2 days ago

June 25, 2024

Marcus Lu

Median Income by State in 2024, Adjusted for Cost of Living

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

To gain insight into the U.S. economy, we’ve visualized the median income by state, as of May 2024. These figures come from WalletHub, which sourced income data from the U.S. Census Bureau and adjusted it for cost of living according to the Cost of Living Index (COLI).

ℹ️ Median income refers to the income level at the midpoint of the income distribution within each state. Using California as an example, half of the state’s households earn more than $124,000, while the other half earn less (after cost of living adjustments).

Data and Key Takeaways

All of the numbers we used to create this graphic are listed in the table below.

Rank	State	Median Annual Income (adjusted for cost of living)
1	DC	$162,265
2	Hawaii	$141,832
3	Massachusetts	$127,760
4	Maryland	$124,693
5	California	$123,988
6	New Jersey	$117,847
7	Connecticut	$114,156
8	Alaska	$113,934
9	New Hampshire	$110,205
10	Rhode Island	$104,252
11	Washington	$103,748
12	Colorado	$97,301
13	New York	$91,366
14	Oregon	$91,100
15	Utah	$89,786
16	Vermont	$89,695
17	Virginia	$89,393
18	Delaware	$87,173
19	Minnesota	$86,364
20	Nevada	$80,366
21	North Dakota	$79,874
22	Maine	$79,800
23	Illinois	$78,304
24	Wyoming	$76,307
25	Pennsylvania	$74,711
26	Arizona	$74,375
27	Wisconsin	$72,602
28	Nebraska	$72,384
29	Texas	$70,513
30	Idaho	$70,041
31	South Dakota	$69,266
32	Iowa	$68,974
33	Montana	$68,937
34	Florida	$68,818
35	Kansas	$68,489
36	Georgia	$66,612
37	Indiana	$64,170
38	North Carolina	$63,025
39	South Carolina	$62,909
40	Michigan	$62,446
41	Ohio	$61,904
42	Missouri	$59,715
43	Tennessee	$59,077
44	New Mexico	$58,911
45	Oklahoma	$57,215
46	Louisiana	$56,282
47	Kentucky	$55,629
48	Alabama	$55,480
49	West Virginia	$52,719
50	Arkansas	$51,032
51	Mississippi	$46,880

The Cost of Living Index, published by the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER), was established in 1968, and allows for consistent place-to-place cost comparisons.

The index considers six categories of spending: groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, health care, and miscellaneous.

After adjusting for COLI, the top three states by median income are the District of Columbia (DC) (technically a district), Hawaii, and Massachusetts.

In DC, federal government agencies are the biggest employers. Many of them offer high-paying jobs that require higher education and specialized skills. DC, like Hawaii, also has a relatively higher cost of living, which may push up the average salary.

In the case of Massachusetts, the state is home to many of the world’s most prestigious universities and research institutions, as well as high-earning sectors like healthcare and tech.