In 2016, the average length of a hospital stay for in-patients in different European Union (EU) Member States ranged between 5 and 10 days.
Of the 25 EU Member States for which 2016 data are available, the two countries with the highest average length of stay were Czechia (9.6 days) and Croatia (9.3 days). In contrast, the two countries with the lowest average number of days spent in hospital were Bulgaria (5.3 days) and the Netherlands (4.5 days, excluding long-stay hospitals).
The data source is here.
How the average length of stay is defined
The average length of stay for in-patients is calculated from the total number of nights spent in hospitals by in-patients divided by the total number of discharges. The average length of stay can be influenced by differences in the type of institutions covered in the different Member States. For example, if institutions providing long-term care are not included in the national figures, the average length of stay is likely to be underestimated.
For more information:
- Statistics Explained article on hospital discharges and length of stay statistics, which includes analyses by the age and gender of patients and by type of disease or injury, and comparisons between 2011 and 2016
- Overview of health care statistics
To contact us: estat-user-support@ec.europa.eu