Korean doctors are 47.9-years-old on average and earn 230 million won ($176,245) a year, with nearly three out of 10 physicians working in the capital Seoul. These are the gist of a recent survey on the health and medical workforce released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

The Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA) conducted the survey, the first to grasp the reality and characteristics of the health and medical workforce according to the Health and Medical Personnel Support Act enacted in 2019. It analyzed the current state of about 2.01 million healthcare workers as of Jan. 1, 2020, based on data from the ministry and the National Health Insurance Service.

Number of doctors increased by 30,000 in 2020 from a decade ago

According to the survey, the number of licensed healthcare workers stood at 2,009,693 on Jan. 1, 2020. The total was an increase of 812,028 workers from 2010, marking an average annual growth rate of 5.3 percent.

By occupation, the number of nurse aides was 725,356, accounting for 36.1 percent of the total healthcare workers, followed by 391,493 nurses (19.5 percent), 115,185 doctors (5.7 percent), and 23,946 oriental doctors (1.2 percent).

The number of healthcare workers has steadily risen over the past decade. Doctors totaled 115,185 in number in 2020, up 3,000 from 2019 and 30,045 from 2010.

The yearly growth rates for other healthcare workers during the decade were 2.9 percent for dentists, 3.8 percent for oriental doctors, 2.6 percent for pharmacists, and 5.1 percent for nurses.

The number of healthcare workers in active service stood at 1,320,835 in 2020, an increase of 606,733 from a decade ago. By occupation, there were 406,239 nurse’s aides, 285,097 nurses, and 106,204 doctors. Those in active service refer to licensed healthcare workers as economically active, whereas inactive workers refer to certified healthcare workers as economically inactive.

The share of nurses in active service was 72.8 percent, up 5 percentage points from 67.8 percent in 2010, showing some improvements in the “idle nurse” issue, one of the reasons for the nursing shortage.

On the other hand, the number of doctors not in active service totaled 8,981, or 7.5 percent of the total, followed by 2,694 inactive dentists (10.1 percent) and 2,618 idle oriental doctors (10.9 percent). A total of 13,897 pharmacists were also not working, accounting for 24.6 percent of the druggists.

42 percent of doctors work at clinics; 30 percent are concentrated in Seoul

By the workplace, 42.2 percent (41,988) of doctors worked at neighborhood clinics, 20.4 percent (20,316) in general hospitals, and 20.3 percent (20,236) in tertiary hospitals.

By region, 29,136 doctors, or 29.3 percent of the total, worked at healthcare institutions in Seoul, while only 1,107 doctors (1.1 percent) were in Jeju Province.

The number of doctors working at medical care institutions per 100,000 people rose from 145.1 in 2010 to 193.8 in 2020.

The average age of doctors in healthcare institutions increased by 4.1 years, from 43.8 in 2010 to 47.9 and the average age of nurses also went up by 3.3 years, from 32.9 in 2010 to 36.2 in 2020.

Doctors earn 230 million won a year; oriental doctors, 108 million won

Doctors earned 230 million won ($176,245) on average a year, followed by oriental doctors’ annual average income of 108 million won, pharmacists’ 84 million won, and nurses’ 47 million won.

Also, in the cases of doctors, dentists, and oriental doctors, doctors practicing in their clinics earned more than salaried physicians, and male doctors’ incomes were higher than female doctors.

On average, salaried doctors earned about 63 percent of clinic openers, while women doctors received 70 percent of men.

Male physicians earned an average salary of 240 million won ($184,374), while female physicians earned an average salary of 172 million won ($132,134), a 69.6 percent of average male doctors’ income.

30 percent of nurses still suffer from workplace bullying

The online survey also examined working hours, workloads, and difficulties of healthcare workers.

Nurses worked an average of 37 hours per week, and nurses at healthcare institutions took care of 96.6 outpatients and 22.6 inpatients per day, according to a survey of 3,768 nurses.

Nearly 53 percent of nurses had experienced changing workplaces mainly because of low pay levels and heavy workload.

Also, 30.1 percent of nurses experienced bullying at the workplace, with verbal abuse accounting for 77.8 percent of the total, with tossing work representing 36 percent, and ostracizing, 34.5 percent.

“The survey is significant as the latest fact-finding work on healthcare workers by turning the public data into big data,” said Lee Chang-jun, director-general of the Health and Medical Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

“The ministry will make the most of the survey as the foundation for scientific health and medical policies based on evidence and transparently disclose the research details, helping researchers, stakeholders, and the public use it as a reference source", Lee added.