Mental health care is a specialised area of medicine. In 2015, the European Union (EU) had around 90 000 psychiatrists in total. The majority practised in Germany (18 200 psychiatrists, or 21% of the EU total), France (15 200 psychiatrists, 17%), the United Kingdom (11 800 psychiatrists, 14%) and Italy (10 800 psychiatrists, 12%).
However, to be able to compare the shares by country, these absolute numbers need to be adjusted to the size of the population. Please be aware that the data are not fully comparable due to differences in reporting between Member States.
Highest number of psychiatrists per inhabitant in Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands and France
Eight Member States recorded over 200 psychiatrists per million inhabitants. These were Finland (with 236 psychiatrists per million inhabitants), Sweden (232) the Netherlands (230), France (228), Lithuania and Luxembourg (both 225), Germany (223) as well as Greece (219).
At the opposite end of the scale, nine Member States had fewer than 150 psychiatrists per million inhabitants. The lowest rate was recorded in Bulgaria (with 76 psychiatrists per million inhabitant), followed by Poland (90), Malta (95), Spain and Romania (both 106), Cyprus (112), Portugal (120), Slovenia (128) and the Czech Republic (146).
The source dataset can be found here.
Mental and behavioural disorders killed 183 500 people in the EU in 2014, the large majority (87%) due to dementia. Women accounted for around two-thirds of these deaths.
This news item marks today's World Mental Health Day.