How many hospital beds does the EU have?

Disclaimer: values for hospital beds in 2022 and 2013 were updated after publication. In 2023, the EU had 511 hospital beds per 100 000 people, a small decrease from the 517 registered in 2022. This reduction is more pronounced when compared with 2013, when the EU average was 552. When looking at this evolution, it’s important to note that scientific and technological developments have shortened the average length of stay for many in-patient procedures or replaced them with out-patient or day care alternatives. Among the EU countries, Bulgaria reported the highest ratio relative to its population size, with an average of 864 hospital beds per 100 000 people, followed by Germany (766), Romania (728), Austria (660) and Hungary (651). Conversely, 7 EU countries had less than 300 hospital beds per 100 000 people, marking the lowest ratios: Sweden (187), the Netherlands (231), Denmark (233), Finland (260), Spain (288), Ireland (289) and Cyprus (298). Source dataset: hlth_rs_bds1 In terms of long-term care beds in nursing and other residential long-term care facilities, in 2023, among the 26 countries for which data are available, the highest rates were registered in the Netherlands (1 400 long-term care beds per 100 000 people), Sweden (1 315) and Belgium (1 250). Greece (20 long-term care beds per 100 000 people) and Bulgaria (26) registered the lowest rates, followed by Poland (222). Source dataset: hlth_rs_bdltc