Hospitals in Ireland 2000-2020

There were 86 hospitals in Ireland in 2020, the lowest number in the country since the start of the provided time interval. The number of hospitals in Ireland had been declining steadily since the year 2000 but experienced a significant drop between 2008 and 2009.

Healthcare employees in Ireland

Over the period since 2000, the number of health employees has been increasing in Ireland. In 2021, there were almost 78.4 thousand employees in hospitals in Ireland, an increase of nearly 30 thousand from the year 2000. While in the period since 2000 the number of general practitioners in Ireland has more than doubled to 4.3 thousand in 2021. 

Spending indicators on health

Ireland’s expenditure on healthcare was 7.2 percent of GDP in 2020. In comparison to other European countries, Ireland ranks relatively low on health expenditure. Germany had the highest share of expenditure on health, spending 12.8 percent of its GDP in the year 2020.