30-07-2026 - In 2025, the Region had 5.5 physicians per thousand inhabitants, approaching the national average

In 2025,
Region had 5.5 physicians per thousand inhabitants, approaching the national average

In 2025, 1 473 physicians with declared residence in the Autonomous Region of Madeira (ARM) were registered with the Portuguese Medical Association (Ordem dos Médicos), 53 more professionals than in the previous year, corresponding to an increase of 3.7%. Of the total number of registered physicians, 886 were women, representing 60.1% of registered physicians.

Most physicians resided in the municipality of Funchal, concentrating 1 021 professionals, equivalent to 69.3% of the total. This was followed by the municipalities of Santa Cruz, with 196 physicians (13.3%), and Câmara de Lobos, with 81 physicians (5.5%).

In the year under review, about 3 in every 5 registered physicians held a medical specialty, totalling 912 specialists. The proportion of specialist physicians was higher among men, reaching 69.8% of male physicians (410 professionals). Among women, this proportion stood at 56.7%, totalling 502 female specialist physicians.

Among the main specialties, General and family medicine stood out, with 254 doctors (27.9% of the total number of specialists). This was followed by Internal medicine, with 104 specialists (11.4%), General surgery, with 56 specialists (6.1%), Paediatrics, with 51 specialists (5.6%), and Anaesthesiology, with 46 specialists (5.0%).

Based on resident population estimates for 2025, the Region recorded an average of 5.5 physicians per thousand inhabitants, a value slightly higher than that observed in 2024 (5.4 physicians per thousand inhabitants) and the highest in the available series. This ratio is still below the national average (5.7 physicians per thousand inhabitants), but the gap is the smallest since the start of the series in 1979. In turn, in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, in 2025, there were 4.1 physicians per thousand inhabitants.

By municipality, this indicator was most pronounced in Funchal, recording 9.0 doctors per thousand inhabitants. By contrast, the municipality of Calheta recorded the lowest value, with 1.4 physicians per thousand inhabitants.