Lisbon, Nov. 3, 2025 (Lusa) - One in five doctors and nurses working in the health systems of the 38 OECD member countries, including Portugal, are migrants, according to a report the organisation released on Monday.
In total, the health systems of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) are home to more than 830,000 foreign-born doctors and 1.75 million foreign-born nurses, says the annual report "International Migration Prospects 2025".
The figures show the situation in 2020-2021, the last time health figures were counted, but OECD analysts - who worked in series with the World Health Organisation (WHO) on this report - say that the integration of migrant doctors and nurses has grown significantly over the last two decades, outstripping the overall growth in employment in these professions.
'The total number of foreign-born doctors has increased by 86% and nurses by 136%,' they say.
The situation is due to a shortage of health professionals in countries with ageing populations and an increasing need for medical care, the analysts emphasise in the document on migration.
"In response, many OECD countries have strengthened their capacity to train health personnel, but international recruitment of doctors and nurses has also continued to increase," they point out.
The largest increases in absolute numbers of migrant health professionals were recorded in the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom, the analysts found.
The number of foreign-born doctors has more than tripled in the last two decades in several countries, including Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, Spain and Switzerland.
Among foreign-born nurses, Finland has seen the biggest rise, with an almost eightfold increase, while Germany, Ireland, New Zealand and Norway have also seen the number more than triple.
The report also points out that the majority of migrant health professionals come from Asia, where approximately 40% of foreign doctors and 37% of foreign nurses working in the OECD come from.
India, Germany and China are the main countries of origin for doctors, while the Philippines, India and Poland are the top three countries of origin for nurses.
"Seven countries of origin have more doctors working in the OECD than in the countries themselves, and this figure rises to 15 countries in the case of nurses," says the document, explaining that most of them come from small island states and less developed countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Although migration policies are evolving, especially due to the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, policy responses still need to be stepped up, according to OECD analysts.
"Recognition and licensing", which "remain major obstacles to the integration of migrant health professionals into the labour market", must be improved, they argue.
The OECD also proposes that the main recipient countries strengthen "training and improve retention of health professionals to reduce shortages and maldistribution at home".
Created in 1961 to manage Marshall Plan aid after the Second World War, the OECD currently aims to promote democracy and market economies and has as members, in addition to Portugal, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
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