World Health Organization projects a global shortage of 11.1 million health workers

21 October 2026

The report is titled National health workforce accounts: health workforce levels and trends 2026.
It is the first in an annual series built on National Health Workforce Accounts data, and this edition focuses on ageing.
Global health workforce density rose 52 per cent, from 44.8 to 67.9 per 10,000 population, between 2006 and 2025.
More than 70 million health and care workers are employed worldwide.
Doctor density is 13 times higher in the European Region than in the African Region, and nurse and midwife density is six times higher.
Nearly one in four doctors is over 55 and will retire within the next decade, based on data from 122 countries, rising to nearly one in three in high-income countries.
The projected global shortage is 11.1 million health workers by 2030, with 67 countries unable to meet population health needs.