An Italian doctor earns, with purchasing power parity, 70% less than a German colleague and 40% less than an Englishman. Nurses are also underpaid. The latest OECD data

by Luciano Fassari

The analysis is based on 2020 OECD data calculated in dollars and equalized by purchasing power. A very negative picture is confirmed for Italian doctors and nurses, with salaries that are decidedly lower than those of colleagues from other countries, both European and overseas. The average of an Italian doctor is $ 110,000 and that of a nurse $ 39,000. Figures clearly lower than those perceived in most European countries, in the USA but also in countries such as South Korea and Chile. Here are all the data country by country.

04 NOV –

The salaries of Italian doctors and nurses are among the lowest in comparison to the main Europeans and the OECD area. It has been talked about for some time and also the Minister of Health, Orazio Schillaci in his first outings he denounced the phenomenon and announced initiatives to raise wages. And by looking at the most up-to-date numbers provided by the OECD in its Health statistics portal and referring to the year 2020 (in dollars), the picture that emerges confirms how our professionals (in the OECD statistics there are only the data of doctors and nurses ed.), with purchasing power parity, earn less than many of our European and global partners.

But let’s start with the doctors. In Italy, the OECD estimate sees our doctors earn an average of $ 110,000. A figure 70% lower than German colleagues who earn 187,000, even 72% less than the Dutch (190,000 dollars), 41% less than the British (155,000 dollars), 27% less than the Belgians ( 140 thousand) and 8% less than the French (the comparison in this case must be made on 2019 as there are no data from the 2020 transalpines). On the other hand, the salaries of Spanish doctors are similar, while the comparison goes in favor of Italian white coats if we look for example at Greece ($ 60,000) and Hungary ($ 68,000).

But even leaving the EU, the budget is still meager. In Chile, for example, doctors earn $ 136,000, in South Korea $ 195,000, and in New Zealand $ 132,000.

Shifting the focus on nurses however, the figures are even worse. In Italy, the average salary in 2020 (again with purchasing power parity and in dollars) is about $ 39,000, a figure far from the $ 87,000 that Belgian nurses receive and $ 81,000 from the US ones. But the numbers are 51% lower even if they refer to the Germans ($ 59,000 in 2018, the latest figure), the Spaniards who receive $ 56,000 and the British ($ 48,000). We do better than Greece and Hungary but in this case the gap is very narrow.

In short, the numbers, albeit with all the difficulties of comparison that even the OECD points out, give us a real picture of how work in healthcare in Italy is underpaid.

Luciano Fassari

04 November 2022
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