Number of doctors in Russia by year: statistics since 1970 and charts
In Russia in 2024, 749.9 thousand doctors worked, or 51.3 doctors per 10 thousand population. This is close to the historic maximum: the record was set a year earlier, 758.8 thousand. In 1970 there were 347.4 thousand doctors, in 1990 there were 667.3 thousand. The data are from Rosstat according to the Ministry of Health.
There are more doctors, while hospital beds are half as many as in 1990, and ambulance calls are a quarter fewer than in 2003. Below are the full series, a breakdown by specialties, and an explanation of why these three indicators diverge.
Number of doctors by year: table
| Year | Thousand people | Per 10 thousand population |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 347.4 | 26.6 |
| 1980 | 531.5 | 38.3 |
| 1990 | 667.3 | 45.0 |
| 1995 | 653.7 | 44.4 |
| 2000 | 680.2 | 46.8 |
| 2005 | 690.3 | 48.6 |
| 2010 | 715.8 | 50.1 |
| 2015 | 673.0 | 45.7 |
| 2018 | 703.7 | 47.6 |
| 2020 | 737.4 | 50.0 |
| 2022 | 744.1 | 50.8 |
| 2023 | 758.8 | 51.9 |
| 2024 | 749.9 | 51.3 |
Over half a century the number of doctors increased by 2.2 times with an almost unchanged population. The decline occurred in 2012-2016: from 715.8 thousand in 2010 the figure fell to 673.0 thousand in 2015. Those years saw health care optimisation, when positions were cut and facilities merged. Since 2016 the series is recovering.
The breakdown by all specialties can be viewed on the chart.
Hospital beds: down 45% since 1990
This trend goes in the opposite direction.
| Year | Thousand beds |
|---|---|
| 1970 | 1,469.3 |
| 1980 | 1,801.9 |
| 1990 | 2,037.6 |
| 1995 | 1,850.5 |
| 2000 | 1,671.6 |
| 2005 | 1,575.4 |
| 2010 | 1,339.5 |
| 2015 | 1,222.0 |
| 2019 | 1,173.6 |
| 2020 | 1,188.8 |
| 2022 | 1,141.9 |
| 2024 | 1,127.7 |
The peak was in 1990: 2.04 million beds. By 2024, 1.13 million remained, a decline of 44.7%. A noticeable rise over twenty years happened once, in 2020, when infectious beds were urgently added during COVID: their number jumped from 58.5 to 220.8 thousand and returned to 59.7 thousand by 2024.
A reduction of the bed stock does not itself mean degradation. Medicine has shifted to short hospital stays and day wards; surgeries that required two weeks in a ward are now done in three days. But this logic has limits, and the collapse of infectious beds by 2019 showed the pandemic starkly.
Doctors by Specialty
Number of doctors by specialty, thousand persons.
| Specialty | 1990 | 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Therapeutic profile | 169.7 | 187.3 | +10% |
| Surgical profile | 82.8 | 82.9 | 0% |
| Dentists | 48.6 | 67.2 | +38% |
| Obstetrician‑gynecologists | 41.2 | 42.3 | +3% |
| Neurologists | 18.5 | 28.1 | +52% |
| Radiologists and X‑ray physicians | 22.1 | 24.8 | +12% |
| Ophthalmologists | 15.1 | 19.5 | +29% |
| Pediatricians | 83.0 | 62.5 | −25% |
| Phthisiatrists | 11.2 | 7.0 | −38% |
Two rows are falling. The number of pediatricians decreased by a quarter, and the reason is mainly demographic: there are noticeably fewer children in the country than in 1990. The number of phthisiatrists fell by 38%, reflecting the retreat of tuberculosis: tuberculosis beds also dropped from 98.3 to 55.8 thousand.
The biggest growth is among neurologists: from 18.5 to 28.1 thousand, plus 52%. Dentists increased by 38%, but this statistic counts only the public sector, while private clinics have built a parallel industry over these years.
Ambulance Service
| Year | Stations | Calls, million | Per 1,000 people |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 1,921 | 28.6 | 220 |
| 1990 | 3,042 | 51.5 | 348 |
| 2003 | 3,268 | 52.9 | 369 |
| 2010 | 2,940 | 50.7 | 355 |
| 2015 | 2,561 | 47.7 | 325 |
| 2020 | 2,113 | 45.5 | 308 |
| 2021 | 2,035 | 46.9 | 319 |
| 2024 | 1,833 | 39.4 | 270 |
The number of ambulance stations has almost halved from the 2003 peak: 3,268 versus 1,833. Calls have also decreased: 39.4 million versus 52.9 million, i.e., 270 calls per thousand residents instead of 369. The only spike in twenty years occurred in 2021.
Part of the decline is explained by consolidation: sub‑stations merge into unified dispatch centers, so one station now serves an area that previously had three. Another part is that calls have shifted to urgent care at polyclinics and telephone consultations.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many doctors are there in Russia in 2024?
749.9 thousand people, or 51.3 doctors per 10 thousand population. This is the second highest result in the entire observation period after 758.8 thousand in 2023.
Are the number of doctors in Russia increasing or decreasing?
Since 2016, more: from 680.9 thousand to 749.9 thousand in 2024. Before that there was a decline: from 715.8 thousand in 2010 to 673.0 thousand in 2015.
How many hospital beds are there in Russia?
1,127.7 thousand in 2024. This is 44.7% less than in 1990 (2,037.6 thousand), and lower than the 1970 level.
Which doctors have decreased the most?
Tuberculosis specialists: 7.0 thousand in 2024 versus 11.2 thousand in 1990. Pediatricians decreased by a quarter, from 83.0 to 62.5 thousand.
Does the statistics include private clinics?
Data are collected from organizations reporting to the Ministry of Health, and coverage of the private sector in this reporting is incomplete. Therefore the real number of practicing dentists and, for example, cosmetologists is higher than published.
Why have ambulance calls decreased?
The number of calls fell from 52.9 million in 2003 to 39.4 million in 2024. Main reasons: shifting part of the requests to urgent care at polyclinics, telephone consulting and consolidation of the stations themselves, which became 1,833 versus 3,268.
In short
There are 749.9 thousand doctors in Russia, which is close to the maximum in the entire observation history, and the provision (51.3 per 10 thousand population) is almost twice the 1970 level. Hospital beds are meanwhile almost half of the 1990 amount, and ambulance calls are a quarter less than in 2003. Three rows describe the same thing: medicine has shifted from inpatient care to polyclinics and short hospitalizations.
All rows are taken from open Rosstat publications and are updated on the website as new data become available.