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During the year, the number of doctors in Latvia has decreased by more than 200 – in Latvia

Last year, the total number of doctors in Latvia decreased by 236 or 3.6%, thus at the end of the year there were 6,332 doctors in the country, according to the data compiled by the Center for Disease Prevention and Control (SPKC).

The number of practicing doctors has decreased by 219 specialists – at the end of last year their total number was 6253.

The number of family doctors increased by 2% last year. At the end of 2019, 1,370 family doctors were registered in Latvia, of which only one was not a practicing physician. Meanwhile, last year there were a total of 1342 family doctors in Latvia.

The number of specialist doctors has increased by 12.9% – from 4,396 last year to 4,962 last year. The proportion of non-practicing physicians has decreased. If last year a total of 95 specialists were non-practitioners, then last year – 78.

In contrast, the number of heart surgeons decreased by 35% last year. At the end of the year, there were 20 heart surgeons in the country, compared to 31 last year, but all of them are practitioners.

In 2019, the number of anesthesiologists and resuscitators increased by a quarter, reaching 375 at the end of the year, while 300 such specialists were registered in the country last year. The increase took place despite the fact that from 2017 to 2018, the number of these doctors in the country decreased.

A similar situation can be observed with regard to emergency medicine doctors, the total number of whom in the country decreased by 13 from 2017 to 2018. However, last year there was a 37.8% increase among these medical personnel, as a result of which there were 91 emergency doctors in the country at the end of last year.

The number of residents decreased last year – from 768 in 2018 to 747 last year. Meanwhile, from 2017 to 2018, the number of residents increased by 120.

The SPCC collects data on the mortality of the population on an annual basis, including by gender, age and place of residence, as well as mortality from external factors.

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