31-07-2023 - In 2022, the number of physicians, dentists and nurses increased in the Autonomous Region of Madeira

In 2022

Number of physicians, dentists and nurses increased in the Autonomous Region of Madeira

In 2022, the number of physicians registered in the Guild reached 1,318, showing a 3.7% increase compared to the previous year (1,271 physicians). Among them, 57.6% (759) were women. In terms of location, 71.6% (944) of the physicians resided in Funchal, 13.3% (175) in Santa Cruz, and 4.9% (65) in Câmara de Lobos. Of the total number of physicians in 2022, 760 were specialists (57.7%) and 558 (42.3%) were non-specialists.

Based on post-census estimates of the Resident Population for 2022, derived from the provisional results of the 2021 Census, the average number of physicians per 1,000 inhabitants in the Autonomous Region of Madeira was 5.2. Funchal had the highest value, with 8.9 physicians per 1,000 inhabitants, while Calheta and Santana had the lowest, with 1.1 physicians per 1,000 inhabitants. The physician-to-population ratio for the Autonomous Region of Madeira was below the country's average (5.8) but higher than that of the Autonomous Region of the Azores (4.0).

Regarding dentists, the number registered in their professional order was 240, representing a 4.8% increase compared to 2021 (229). On average, there were 0.9 dentists per thousand inhabitants in the Autonomous Region of Madeira. This ratio was lower than the country's average (1.1) but higher than that of the Autonomous Region of the Azores (0.8).

The number of registered nurses in The Portuguese Order of Nurses increased by 4.0% in 2022 when compared to 2021 (2,551 in 2022; 2,452 in 2021). On average, there were 10.1 nurses per 1,000 inhabitants, a higher value than both Portugal's average (7.8) and the Autonomous Region of the Azores (9.8).

The data presented here will be included in the "2022 Health Statistics of the Autonomous Region of Madeira" publication, which will be released in full in the first quarter of 2024.