The organization’s annual report on migration affirmed that “the shortage of health personnel, caused by the aging of the population, the increasing need for healthcare, and the rising demand for medical services, currently represents a major challenge for various OECD countries in the economic field.”
The report’s authors stated that many countries have tried to address this problem by “strengthening their capacities to train health personnel, but the recruitment of foreign doctors and nurses has continued to rise.” They explained that this data could be useful for countries in determining “their health policies.”
The report revealed a significant increase between 2001 and 2021, with the number of doctors born in a country other than the one in which they work increasing by 86%, while the number of nurses jumped by 142%.
In 2021, the United States topped the list of countries with the largest number of foreign workers in the healthcare sector, recording 291,000 people, followed by Germany with approximately 90,000, and then the United Kingdom with 10,000.
Over the past twenty years, the number of foreign doctors has more than tripled in Finland, Germany, Norway, Spain, and Switzerland. Regarding nurses, their number has increased by about 8 times in Finland and three times in Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, and Norway.
Foreigners represent significant proportions of doctors in some countries, constituting 22% in Germany, 18% in France, 54% in Australia, 49% in Ireland, 41% in the United Kingdom, 37% in Canada, and 30% in the United States.
Foreign nurses also constitute a large part of the healthcare workforce in several countries, with their percentage reaching 19% in Germany, 41% in Australia, 37% in Ireland, 33% in Switzerland, 6% in France, and 28% in the United Kingdom.
(AFP)
