Highlights: 1.2 million healthcare professionals needed in the EU countries in 2025
- Countries in the European Union need around 1.2 million healthcare professionals in 2025.
- The EU action is aiming to address workforce shortages in the healthcare sector, especially for nurses.
- Recent WHO reports revealed that around 18 million healthcare professionals will be required by 2030.
- The European Commission is planning to reserve a budget of €1.3 million to recruit and retain nurses in the EU.
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Healthcare professionals in demand in the EU
According to recent reports, countries in the European Union are in dire need of healthcare professionals. The healthcare sector in the Schengen countries reported around 1.2 million vacancies in 2025, especially for skilled nursing professionals.
As a part of the EU action, the European Commission is willing to distribute a total of €1.3 million to the Schengen countries to help them hire and retain nurses and other healthcare professionals. The World Health Organisation reports estimate the requirement of around 18 million healthcare workers in the world by 2030.
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EU aiming to attract more nursing professionals
The European Commission established the EU action in collaboration with the WHO Europe in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. The EU action aims to prioritize challenges in the healthcare system, especially the requirement of skilled nurses, faced by the EU member states.
The EU Member States will customise the needs of the initiative along with the nursing organisations to facilitate the recruitment of foreign nurses at both national and subnational levels. The initiative also includes impact assessments, mentoring programmes and strategies for improvement of future nurses so as to multiply the benefits of digital transformation.
The table below shows recent statistical data about the number of nurses in certain EU countries:
|
Country |
No. of Nurses per 100,000 people |
|
Norway |
75 |
|
Denmark |
44.1 |
|
Sweden |
43.5 |
|
Bulgaria |
6.9 |
|
Romania |
6.4 |
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Top 7 countries looking for healthcare professionals in 2025
According to the EURES report 2023, the following are the top seven countries having the highest demand for healthcare professionals:
- Switzerland
- Norway
- Germany
- Ireland
- Austria
- Denmark
- Netherlands
The following are the in-demand healthcare job roles in 2025:
- Specialist medicals
- Generalist medical practitioners
- Nurses
- Healthcare assistants
- Midwives
- Physiotherapists
- Pharmacists
- Dentists
- Audiologists
- Speech therapists
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