Uneven distribution of physiotherapists in EU countries

• In the year 2021, there were about 611,000 physiotherapists employed across the European Union. This translates to an average of around 136.7 physiotherapists for every 100,000 people in the population.

• The proportionate spread of physiotherapists among European Union countries varies, with numbers ranging from 234.4 per 100,000 residents in Germany and 215.9 in Belgium, all the way down to 12.7 in Romania. CEE countries have in general way less physiotherapists than Western EU countries (1).

• Physiotherapists benefit from automatic recognition in other EU Members States thanks to the Directive that also establishes a set of fundamental criteria for each professional role. For physiotherapists, a minimum training period of three years is foreseen. After training, many young graduates decide to leave for better conditions to other EU countries, migration is common practice. The TOP 10 destinations for young physiotherapists seeking good professional opportunities are big cities like London, Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Rome, Stockholm, Dublin, Zurich, Copenhagen and Amsterdam, all in Western countries (2).

(1) Eurostat 2023: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/w/ddn-20230818-1

(2) Saleem S (2023) Europe :Top 10 Destinations for Physiotherapists, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/europe-top-10-destinations-physiotherapists-sohaib-saleem/