Physiotherapists: number of employees in Europe in 2023

In 2023, there were around 197 thousand physiotherapists employed in the healthcare sector in Germany, by far the highest figure in Europe, almost one hundred thousand more than there were in France which had the second highest in Europe. Spain followed with approximately 66 thousand employed physiotherapists in 2022.

Number of physiotherapists has risen significantly in Germany

In the year 2000, Germany had 78 thousand physiotherapists employed in their healthcare sector. Since then the number has grown year-on-year. The number of physiotherapists in France has increased between 2000 and 2021 as well but at a much lower rate than in Germany.

Do Germans visit the physio more often?

In 2018, 40 percent of individuals in Germany reported they were living with a long-standing limiting health condition or illness. This was a higher rate than the in other comparably large western Europe nations and may indicate that there is a higher need for physical therapists in Germany compared to other countries. Nine percent of people in Germany said they visited a physical or occupational therapist at least three times a year in 2018. In the same year, 23 percent of those in Germany visited a physical or occupation therapist at least once a year, which is higher than the frequency of visits in Great Britain or France.