The number of registered healthcare professionals in Spain surpassed one million for the first time in 2024, reaching 1,008,764, a 2.6% increase over the previous year. By sex, 308,915 were men (up 1.8%) and 699,849 were women (up 2.9%).
Values and rates of change (%)
1 Not available at the time of publication: the data on Dietitians nutritionists for 2021, 2022 and 2023 for the entire national territory. 2 In 2024, there was a break in the number of registered podiatrists due to a database purge by the General Council of Official Colleges of Podiatrists of Spain, adjusting it to the EPSC methodology.
The majority were nurses (35.1% of the total), followed by doctors (30.8%) and pharmacists (8.0%).
The number of registered doctors in Spain increased by 8,874 (2.9%) reaching a total of 310,558 in 2024.
The number of registered nurses increased by 7,428 (2.1%) to 353,635. Within this group, 10,487 people were registered as midwives (2.4% more than in 2023).
In the rest of the professions included in the statistics, the greatest increases were in physicists with a health speciality (13.0%), occupational therapists (10.3%) and psychologists with a health speciality (7.9%).
Nurses had the largest ratio per 1,000 inhabitants in 2024 (7.21). Next came doctors (6.33) and pharmacists (1.65).
In the case of nurses who specialise in midwifery, the ratio was 0.98 per 1,000 women of childbearing age.
According to the distribution by age group, the highest percentages of health professionals under 45 years of age were found in occupational therapists (86.6%), dietitians and nutritionists (83.2%) and physiotherapists (74.6%).
The lowest percentages in this age group were found in the groups of dental technicians (38.8%), pharmacists (39.4%) and biologists (39.6%).
Meanwhile, the largest percentages of registered practitioners over the age of 65 were for doctors (27.0%) and pharmacists (18.6%).
Percentage (%)
The healthcare profession is predominantly female. In 2024, there were more women than men in 14 of the 16 professions analysed.
The groups with the highest percentage of women were speech therapists (93.3% were women), occupational therapists (89.8%) and nurses (84.2%).
In contrast, dental technicians (32.7%), health physicists (33.1%) and veterinarians (54.4%) had the lowest femininity rates.
In the last 10 years, the groups in which the presence of women increased the most, in percentage terms, were veterinarians ( 7.6 points), dental technicians (7.2) and chemists (6.7). In two professions, veterinary medicine and medicine, the female ratio has reversed: a decade ago there was a majority of men (3.6% more doctors than doctors and 13.8% more veterinarians than veterinarians), while in 2024 women were in the majority (19.5% more doctors than doctors and 19.4% more veterinarians than veterinarians).
In contrast, the professions with the largest decreases in the proportion of women were physiotherapists (down 5.8 points), dieticians and nutritionists (down 5.4 points) and occupational therapists (down 1.8 points).
Percentages
The number of registered doctors increased in all autonomous communities and cities in 2024. The largest increases took place in the autonomous city of Melilla (4.9%), Canarias (3.9%) and Illes Balears (3.8%). And the smallest were in Comunidad Foral de Navarra (1.7%), Principado de Asturias and Castilla-La Mancha (both 2.0%).
The highest rates of doctors were in Aragón (7.46 for every 1,000 inhabitants), Principado de Asturias (7.43) and Comunidad de Madrid (7.33). And the lowest were in the autonomous cities of Melilla (3.72) and Ceuta (4.53) and in Castilla-La Mancha (4.94).
The highest ratios of registered nurses per 1,000 inhabitants were recorded in Cantabria (9.32), Comunidad Foral de Navarra (8.92) and País Vasco (8.76). The lowest were in Región de Murcia (4.99), Galicia (5.24) and Illes Balears (6.14).
Rates per 1,000 inhabitants
Rates per 1,000 inhabitants
The data published today are final. All results are available on INEbase
The Registered Health Professionals Statistics are annual structural statistics that investigate the number and characteristics of health professionals registered in their respective Professional Colleges or Councils. They have compiled at the National Statistics Institute without interruption since 1952. This research provides information to various international organisations such as the OECD and the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat).
The information currently provided refers to the professions included in Law 44/2003 of 21 November on the Regulation of Health Professions, or which meet the requirements established therein. The groups, which are: doctors, pharmacists, dentists, veterinarians, psychologists with a specialism in health, physicists with a specialism in health, nurses, physiotherapists, podiatrists, opticians-optometrists, dental prosthetists, chemists with a speciality in health, occupational therapists, speech therapists and biologists with a specialism in health.
The questionnaires are completed through a web application (IRIA) by the General Councils and/or Professional Associations.
More information on the methodology and the standardised methodological report.
INE statistics are produced in accordance with the Code of Good Practice for European Statistics. More information in Quality at INE and Code of Best Practices.
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