Practising nurses

Nurses with a qualification recognised under EU rules who provide services directly to patients, per 100,000 inhabitants. National coverage of nursing categories varies.

Unit: Nurses per 100,000 inhabitants Frequency: Annual Coverage: 33 countries 1980 to 2025 Source: Eurostat
Highest in 2024 1,524 per 100,000 people Norway Lowest in 2024 106 per 100,000 people Romania
Countries ranked for 2024 30 Updated by the source on 13 July 2026

30 countries have a value for 2024, the latest period with data for most countries. Some countries have newer figures; see the ranking below for each country's latest year.

Trend over time

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2 selected
Cyprus × Denmark ×

Nurses per 100,000 inhabitants. Source: Eurostat. Gaps mean no published value; points are not joined across missing years.

Practising nurses (nurses per 100,000 inhabitants), 2001 to 2024
Period CyprusDenmark
2024 519 per 100,000 people 1,053 per 100,000 people
2023 521 per 100,000 people 1,047 per 100,000 people
2022 506 per 100,000 people 1,041 per 100,000 peopleb (break in time series)
2021 503 per 100,000 people 1,034 per 100,000 people
2020 511 per 100,000 people 1,024 per 100,000 people
2019 523 per 100,000 people 1,013 per 100,000 people
2018 524 per 100,000 people 1,010 per 100,000 people
2017 518 per 100,000 people 1,003 per 100,000 people
2016 505 per 100,000 people 995 per 100,000 people
2015 501 per 100,000 people 992 per 100,000 people
2014 480 per 100,000 people 993 per 100,000 people
2013 467 per 100,000 people 995 per 100,000 people
2012 456 per 100,000 people 996 per 100,000 people
2011 462 per 100,000 people 987 per 100,000 people
2010 446 per 100,000 people 983 per 100,000 people
2009 439 per 100,000 people 980 per 100,000 people
2008 421 per 100,000 people 955 per 100,000 people
2007 438 per 100,000 people 930 per 100,000 people
2006 418 per 100,000 people 955 per 100,000 people
2005 394 per 100,000 people 959 per 100,000 people
2004 – 944 per 100,000 people
2003 – 929 per 100,000 people
2002 – 944 per 100,000 people
2001 – 933 per 100,000 people

Flags: b break in time series . A dash means no value was published.

In short

  • Among the 30 countries with a value for 2024, the highest is Norway (1,524 per 100,000 people) and the lowest Romania (106 per 100,000 people).
  • Half of the countries are above 729 per 100,000 people and half below.
  • From 2023 to 2024 the value rose in 22 countries and fell in 6.

About this measure

Definition
Nurses with a qualification recognised under EU rules who provide services directly to patients, per 100,000 inhabitants. National coverage of nursing categories varies.
Population covered
Total population
Unit
Nurses per 100,000 inhabitants
Frequency
Annual
Changes are shown as
Differences in the same unit (per 100,000 people)

Source and dates

Original producer
Eurostat
Source
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union
Dataset or series code
hlth_rs_prs2 · dataset details · view at source
Selection
freq=A med_spec=NRS unit=P_HTHAB wstatus=PRACT
Observation period
1980 to 2025
Provider update
13 July 2026
Retrieved
9 November 2026
Published here
9 November 2026
Licence
Eurostat reuse policy (attribution)
Attribution
Source: Eurostat

All countries in 2024 Every value is for 2024, so the countries are compared at the same point in time.

  1. 1 Norway 1,524 per 100,000 people
  2. 2 Luxembourg 1,472 per 100,000 people
  3. 3 Ireland 1,419 per 100,000 people
  4. 4 Finland 1,290 per 100,000 peopled (definition differs (see metadata))
  5. 5 Germany 1,251 per 100,000 people
  6. 6 Switzerland 1,215 per 100,000 people
  7. 7 Netherlands 1,123 per 100,000 people
  8. 8 Sweden 1,114 per 100,000 people
  9. 9 Denmark 1,053 per 100,000 people
  10. 10 Iceland 1,032 per 100,000 peopled (definition differs (see metadata))
  11. 11 Austria 1,015 per 100,000 peoplee (estimated)
  12. 12 Czechia 799 per 100,000 people
  13. 13 Malta 797 per 100,000 peoplee (estimated)
  14. 14 Lithuania 770 per 100,000 people
  15. 15 Liechtenstein 737 per 100,000 people
  16. 16 Portugal 721 per 100,000 people
  17. 17 Serbia 711 per 100,000 peopled (definition differs (see metadata))
  18. 18 Italy 692 per 100,000 people
  19. 19 Estonia 683 per 100,000 people
  20. 20 Poland 601 per 100,000 people
  21. 21 Spain 573 per 100,000 peoplee (estimated)
  22. 22 Slovenia 521 per 100,000 people
  23. 23 Cyprus 519 per 100,000 people
  24. 24 Hungary 460 per 100,000 people
  25. 25 Bulgaria 441 per 100,000 people
  26. 26 Latvia 414 per 100,000 people
  27. 27 Croatia 265 per 100,000 people
  28. 28 Greece 248 per 100,000 peopled (definition differs (see metadata))
  29. 29 Montenegro 122 per 100,000 people
  30. 30 Romania 106 per 100,000 people

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Map

Grey: no value for 2024. Colour groups split countries into roughly equal numbers. Boundaries: Natural Earth.