Switzerland’s healthcare system is facing a serious problem: the scarcity of primary care physicians. How will shortfall in doctors affect the country’s population?
There are currently about 45,000 doctors practicing in Switzerland – this may seem like a lot, but it isn’t nearly enough to meet the increasing demand.
There are several reasons why this is so..
The first one has to do with demographics or, more precisely, with aging population.
On one hand, residents of Switzerland are living longer, with the country’s life expectancy among the highest in Europe. This is, overall, a positive evolution, but it also means that these elderly people are developing age-related illnesses and need more frequent and more sustained medical care.
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This would not be a problem if there were enough working-age physicians around to provide that care.
In addition to a large number of doctors who had retired at more or less the same time in the past few years – creating a considerable care gap – more are nearing the retirement age in the near future, and will further exacerbate the existing shortage.
The Swiss Association of Family Physicians reports that about 25 percent of practicing general practitioners will retire by 2030, and 40 percent by 2035. However, only a quarter of doctors nearing retirement have currently found someone to take over their practice.
But the aging population and retirement of doctors are not the only reason for the shortage.
READ MORE: Why Switzerland faces dire problem of doctor shortages
‘Self-inflicted’ scarcity
According to SRF broadcaster, “the shortage of doctors in Switzerland is partly self-inflicted: For cost reasons, Switzerland limits the number of places to study medicine.”
As a result of this intentional restriction, the number of practicing physicians is particularly low in primary care, prompting the Swiss Medical Association (FMH) to consistently call for an increase in the number of training places at universities.
What impact is this situation having on patients?
Primary care doctors (GPs) are the backbone (no pun intended) of the healthcare system, as they are the first contact point for patients for general medical problems.
According to RTS broadcaster, “In Switzerland, 100 percent of family doctors report having too many patients, prompting many of them to refuse to take on new ones.”
So, if a GP retires and nobody replaces them, hundreds of patients would have to look for a new family doctor, which would be a huge challenge given that most won’t take on new ones.
And if you do manage to find one who does, expect longer waits for appointments, as there will be more people vying for the doctor’s time.
What is the government doing to ensure medical care to all who need it?
Since not enough doctors graduate from Swiss universities to meet the need, Switzerland is increasingly relying on physicians trained in other countries.
In 2025, 43 percent of doctors practicing in Switzerland had a foreign degree – up form 31 percent a decade earlier.
Today, three out of four new physicians in Switzerland come from abroad, which is well above the OECD average of around 19 percent.
For both private and hospital practice, Germany is by far the country that ‘exports’ most doctors to Switzerland, (50.2 percent of all foreign physicians are from Germany).
Italy comes next with 9.5 percent, followed by France (7.1 percent) and Austria (6 percent).
Other nationalities make up nearly 17 percent of hospital doctors in Switzerland.
This may sound like the best possible solution, but that is not necessarily so..
That’s because many countries within the EU are also experiencing shortages of physicians.
“If they succeed in retaining their doctors, the shortage in Switzerland will intensify, with significant consequences for patients,” the FMH said.
READ MORE: What you should know about finding a doctor in Switzerland
