Cyprus Mail 12 May 2020 - by Annette Chrysostomou
CNA
Cyprus has one of the lowest shares of nurses and midwives in the total workforce in the EU, according to a Eurostat report published on the occasion of International Nurses Day, marked annually on May 12.
The share of nurses and midwives in the total workforce was 2.2 per cent in the EU in 2019.
Eleven out of 27 EU member states recorded shares of nurses and midwives of 1.5 per cent or less in the total employment in the country. The lowest share was 1.1 per cent, recorded in Bulgaria, closely followed by Latvia and Luxembourg (both 1.2 per cent) and Estonia, Cyprus and Hungary (all 1.3 per cent).
Among the EU countries, Germany stood out with a share of 3.4 per cent, followed by Finland with 3 per cent and Belgium with 2.9 per cent.
In 2019, there were 4.45 million nurses and midwives employed in the EU, counting both professional and assistant nurses and midwives. This corresponded to half a million more nurses and midwives being employed in the EU in 2019 compared to 2012, with a steady increase over this period.
In absolute numbers, Germany recorded close to 1,458,000 nurses and midwives in 2019, one-third of all nurses and midwives in the EU. France with around 656,000 nurses and midwives (15 per cent of EU’s nurses and midwives) and Italy with around 411 000 (9 per cent) also recorded high numbers.
