Physicians per 1,000 people — all countries

Physicians per 1,000 people — South America

Physicians per 1,000 people in South America in 2021 — 2.61 per 1,000. Since 1960, the indicator has risen by 372.3%.

2021 2.61 per 1,000 +4.92% vs 2017
World rank —
Period maximum 2.61 per 1,0002021
Period minimum 0.55 per 1,0001960

Trend over time

1960–2021 · per 1,000 people

Physicians per 1,000 people — South America, 1960–2021012319601967197419811988199520022009201620211960: 0.55 per 1,0001965: 0.61 per 1,0001970: 0.69 per 1,0001975: 0.8 per 1,0001984: 1.19 per 1,0001990: 1.26 per 1,0001995: 1.23 per 1,0002017: 2.49 per 1,0002021: 2.61 per 1,000
Change over the period: +2.06 (+372.26%) Average annual rate: 2.58 %
Physicians per 1,000 people — South America, by year South America All countries CSV XLSX
Year per 1,000 Change Change, %
2021 2.61 — —
2017 2.49 — —
1995 1.23 — —
1990 1.26 — —
1984 1.19 — —
1975 0.8 — —
1970 0.69 — —
1965 0.61 — —
1960 0.55 — —

About the indicator

The number of practicing physicians (general practitioners and specialists alike) per 1,000 people. WHO treats a level below 2.3 health workers per 1,000 people as the critical threshold of health workforce provision — below it, basic coverage of health services cannot be secured.

Important: The data are not collected every year; countries differ in whether they count only practicing physicians or all licensed ones.

Source: Global Health Observatory (WHO), license CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.