India: Nurses and midwives (per 1,000 people)

Key figures

What the numbers say

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 0.65 in 2017 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.51 in 2006. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2011 to 2020 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.1 a year. A straight line explains 70% of the movement over 9 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 2.27 for 2023. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2017 to 2020 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 0.24, against 0.37 for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

Closest to India in the 2020 ranking

• Kuwait — 5th of 8: 4.55
• Bahrain — 6th of 8: 2.65
• Timor-Leste — 7th of 8: 1.74

What this measures

Nurses and midwives include professional nurses, professional midwives, auxiliary nurses, auxiliary midwives, enrolled nurses, enrolled midwives and other associated personnel, such as dental nurses and primary care nurses.

Limitations: The WHO compiles data from household and labor force surveys, censuses, and administrative records. Data comparability is limited by differences in definitions and training of medical personnel varies. In addition, human resources tend to be concentrated in urban areas, so that average densities do not provide a full picture of health personnel available to the entire population.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 21 values

Nurses and midwives (per 1,000 people) in nearby economies

• Bangladesh — 0.66 (2023)
• Bhutan — 2.05 (2022)
• Maldives — 5.02 (2020)
• Nepal — 4.09 (2023)
• Sri Lanka — 2.26 (2023)

More health data for India

• Population ages 00-04, female (% of female population) — 7.69% (2025)
• Population ages 00-04, male (% of male population) — 7.76% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, female — 169.82 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, female (% of female population) — 23.95% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, male — 184.37 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, male (% of male population) — 24.43% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, total — 354.19 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14 (% of total population) — 24.2% (2025)
• Population ages 05-09, female (% of female population) — 7.97% (2025)
• Population ages 05-09, male (% of male population)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is India's nurses and midwives (per 1,000 people)?

1.72 in 2020, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1991?

It is up 353.83% from 0.38 in 1991 (5.35% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 2.13 in 2017 and the lowest 0.38 in 1991.

Where is India's nurses and midwives (per 1,000 people) heading?

From 2011 to 2020 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.1 a year. A straight line explains 70% of the movement over 9 observed years. Extending that straight line gives about 2.27 for 2023. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2017 to 2020 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 0.24, against 0.37 for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

Where does this data come from?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SH.MED.NUMW.P3, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Global Health Workforce Statistics, World Health Organization (WHO); Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Country data Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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