Latvia’s Ministry of Health Workforce Development Strategy Plan has just released a report to show that the average age of physicians in Latvia has been on the rise, but the proportion of young doctors is higher than in other EU member states – up by 95% over the past ten years.
47% of Latvian doctors are 55 years old or older, as against an EU average of 35%.
The ministry insists, however, that the main thing is the share of young doctors, which is higher than elsewhere. 22.6% of Latvian doctors are 35 years old or younger, while in the EU, the average is 20.2%.
Ministry data show that there were 749 doctors aged under 35 in 2013 in Latvia, and in 2021, that number had risen to 1,468.
The number of graduates from medical degree programmes in Latvia is the second highest among OECD countries at 23.5 per 100,000 inhabitants, as against an OECD average of just 13.5.
The Ministry of Health adds that Latvia’s success in this regard is partly down to the high share of foreign students who are pursuing medical degrees in Latvia. This means that those who will become part of Latvia’s health care market is lower. Overall, the number of medical grads per 10,000 inhabitants is in line with the EU average of 2.3.
There has also been a slight increase in the number of practicing nurses since 2018, when there were 8,707 of them. As of October 1, 2023, the number had risen to 9,117.
A negative trend is the ratio of medical staff per 1,000 residents at Latvia’s hospitals, which is among the lowest among OECD member states and the lowest among the Baltic States – 11.45 in Latvia, 15.32 in Lithuania and 12.4 in Estonia.
Source: BNS
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