Despite the fact that 2021 was the heart of the Covid-19 epidemic, the figure is not greatly different to the average number of visits for the period 2018-2020.
In 2021, the frequency of medical consultations varied widely among the EU members. The average number of doctor consultations per inhabitant ranged between 3.5 and 7.8 in most EU members (except for Malta, for which data were not available).
Among the EU members, Slovakia presented the highest averages of medical doctor consultations, recording 11.0 consultations per inhabitant, followed by Germany (9.6), Hungary (9.5), the Netherlands (8.6) and Czechia (7.8).
On the other hand, the lowest averages of medical doctor consultations were registered in Sweden (2.3 consultations per inhabitant), Greece (2.7), Portugal (3.5), Denmark (3.8), Finland and Estonia (both 4.1). Consequently, Latvia ranks somewhere in the middle.
Compared with the 2018-2020 annual average, the average number of doctor consultations decreased in 19 of the 24 EU members for which data were available. The exceptions were Latvia, with an increase of 5%, Slovakia, Poland and Austria (+3%) and Czechia (+1%).
Meanwhile, the largest decreases in the average number of doctor consultations were registered in Italy (-39%), Lithuania (-24%), Spain (-20%), Estonia (-19%) and Hungary (-8%).
