OECD's Largest Gap... Korean Doctors' Income Is 7 Times Higher Than Salaried Workers'

OECD 'Health at a Glance 2023'
Number of Korean Doctors Among the Lowest... 2.6 per 1,000 Population

It was found that the income of Korean doctors is nearly 7 times higher than the average wage of all workers. This is an overwhelming difference compared to other member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). On the other hand, the number of doctors ranked low, and even based on the metropolitan area, it was fewer than in other countries.

According to the 'Health at a Glance 2023' recently released by the OECD on the 12th, as of 2021, the average annual total income of Korean doctors was 2.1 to 6.8 times higher than that of all workers, depending on employment type and whether they were general practitioners or specialists. Although doctors, a representative high-income professional group, earned higher incomes compared to other occupations in other OECD countries as well, Korean doctors were confirmed to earn much more than other workers.

Specifically, clinic owners earned more than employed doctors, and specialists earned more than general practitioners. Compared to the average wage of all workers, the income of Korean doctors was 2.1 times higher for employed general practitioners, 3.0 times higher for clinic-owning general practitioners, and 4.4 times higher for employed specialists. In particular, clinic-owning specialists earned 6.8 times more than the average worker, showing the largest gap among OECD countries.

From 2011 to 2021, the average annual real wage growth rate of Korean doctors was 2.6% for general practitioners and 2.8% for specialists. The average growth rate among 23 OECD countries was 1.8% for both general practitioners and specialists.

The number of doctors working in OECD member countries increased from 3.5 million in 2011 to 4.3 million in 2021. In all OECD countries, the number of doctors grew faster than the population, and the average number of doctors per 1,000 people increased from 3.2 to 3.7 during the same period. In Korea, the number of doctors also increased from 2.0 to 2.6 per 1,000 people, but it still fell short of the OECD average (3.7) and was even lower than the 2011 average (3.2).

The concentration of doctors in large cities was a common phenomenon not only in Korea but worldwide. However, according to the OECD, the density of doctors by region in Korea was relatively low in all areas including rural and metropolitan regions, diagnosing a fundamental problem of doctor shortage.

In 2021, the number of doctors per 1,000 people in the Seoul metropolitan area was 2.73, the highest in Korea, but it was lower than the average number of doctors in urban areas of 14 OECD countries (4.5) and even less than the average number of doctors in rural areas (3.2). The number of doctors per 1,000 people in major cities of each country was as follows: Prague, Czech Republic (7.72), Vienna, Austria (7.04), Washington DC, USA (6.56), Hamburg, Germany (6.40), Copenhagen region, Denmark (5.14), Brussels, Belgium (4.09), Ankara, T?rkiye (3.67), Mexico City, Mexico (3.03).

Korea ranked second to last among OECD member countries in the proportion of female doctors. The proportion of female doctors in Korea was 25%, only 2 percentage points higher than Japan, which had the lowest at 23%. The OECD average proportion of doctors aged 55 and older was 33%, while Korea's was 26%, lower than the average.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.