At the end of 2018, 68% of the physicians working in practices were 50 years or older. More than a quarter, that is, 31% were aged 60 and over. The proportions of psychotherapists and dentists including orthodontists aged 50 and over who worked in practices were also above average (62% and 52%, respectively). By comparison, 41% of the estimated 5.7 million people working in the health care system were 50 years or older in 2018.
Compared with the previous year, the number of people working in the health sector increased by 101,000 (+1.8%) to stand at 5.7 million in 2018. These are provisional figures as data on the personnel in hospitals and in prevention and rehabilitation facilities are currently not available for reference year 2018 due to a major revision of the census of the statistical offices of the Federation and the Länder that provides basic data on hospitals and on prevention and rehabilitation facilities. For this reason, the missing personnel data were estimated based on the employment statistics of the Federal Employment Agency for reference year 2018.
Of the 5.7 million people working in the health sector, nearly half, that is, 48% were employed full-time and 38% part-time, while 14% were marginally employed in 2018. According to provisional calculations, the number of all employees converted into full-time equivalents on the basis of the collectively agreed working hours amounted to 4.1 million in 2018. Compared with 2017, it rose by 64,000, which was an increase of 1.6%.
Data of the health personnel accounts are contained in the table on Health personnel accounts (23621-0001) of the GENESIS-Online database.