Europe faces a shortage of more than 1,000,000 doctors, nurses and midwives in its health workforce.

Omissions

• The 1.2 million figure is an estimate for 2022 (the reference year), based on minimum staffing thresholds for universal health coverage; no more recent EU-wide official estimate was available before the session date, so the data predates the 2026 session by several years.
• The claim refers to the EU, whereas some sources (e.g. WHO) cite a 1.2 million shortfall for the broader WHO European region, which includes non-EU countries — the magnitudes coincide, but the geographic scopes differ.
• The World Health Organization projects the health-worker gap in the region to grow further, suggesting the shortage may now be larger than the 2022 estimate.

Sources

• PrimaryOECD/European Commission — Health at a Glance: Europe 2024Based on minimum staffing thresholds for universal health coverage (UHC), EU countries had an estimated shortage of approximately 1.2 million doctors, nurses and midwives in 2022.
• SecondaryEuropean Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) — Healthcare in the EU: shortagesestimates a shortage of 1.2 million doctors, nurses and midwives in the EU as of 2022. This deficit, amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic...
• SecondaryEuronews — The EU health paradox: Shortages with surging staff numbersEuropean countries had an estimated shortage of approximately 1.2 million doctors, nurses and midwives in 2022, according to the joint report.
• SecondaryEU Perspectives — Europe is short of a million health workers. Parliament asks...The World Health Organization (WHO) counted a shortfall of 1.2 million health workers in 2022 in its European region. It expects a gap of almost...