There were almost 4,000 more doctors practising in France as of January 1 this year compared to the same time last year, new figures show, a welcome increase in many areas, especially ‘medical deserts’.
In its 2025 edition of its ‘demographic atlas’, published on March 27, the French practising doctor association le Conseil national de l'ordre des médecins (CNOM) said that there were 241,255 practising doctors as of January 1; 3,955 more than a year ago (237,300).
This represents an increase of 1.67% in one year, and 11.9% since 2010, when there were 215,663 people registered.
‘Trend set to continue’
Although the increase is relatively small, it is encouraging.
“We are seeing a slight but real increase in the number of doctors,” states Dr Jean-Marcel Mourgues, vice-president of CNOM and practising doctor, to FranceInfo.
“This will not be noticeable to patients, as the increase is too small, but it is a structural trend that is set to continue in the years to come.”
Why has the number of doctors increased?
The CNOM stated that the slight increase has been spearheaded by:
The rise in the number of retired practitioners who have continued to practise medicine (increasing from 5,612 to 22,882 between 2010 and 2025)
The increase in the number of new doctors, which has risen by 71.2% in 15 years.
Yet, it warned that the number of doctors practising on a regular basis (other than locums or retired doctors temporarily coming back to practise) is only growing very slowly.
In 2025, there will be 201,239 doctors practising on a regular basis, barely more than there were in 2010, the figures show.
Regional differences
The figures show that the increase in doctors is not uniform nationwide.
Regions with the most doctors
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur: 426.2 per 100,000 inhabitants
Ile-de-France: 391.4 per 100,000 inhabitants
The CNOM also compared the density of doctors with the population aged over 65, who are more likely to seek healthcare.
Here, Paris is best equipped, followed by Rhône, and Val-de-Marne.
Regions with the fewest doctors
- Centre-Val-de-Loire: 263.8 per 100,000 inhabitants
- Hauts-de-France: 308.9 per 100,000 inhabitants
The ‘special case’ of Ile-de-France
The Ile-de-France region is a “special case”, states the CNOM.
- 20% of practising French doctors are in Ile-de-France, but of these, 39.8% practise in Paris
- Only 6.1% practise in Seine-et-Marne
- Only 6.4% in Essonne
The region “is one of the best endowed” in terms of the number of medical specialists, but it “has one of the lowest densities of general practitioners (GPs)”.
In sharp contrast, some areas around the “Paris basin” are particularly poorly covered, the order said.
These are:
- Eure: 171 practising doctors per 100,000 inhabitants
- Ain: 179.6
- Mayenne: 192.2.
Read more: How can I find out which parts of France are lacking doctors?
Why such regional differences?
Dr Mourgues, from the CNOM, states that these regional differences are caused by a range of factors, including:
Few medical students come from rural departments and the outskirts of large cities, and so are unlikely to practise there once qualified
An ‘insufficient’ number of internships in health establishments of these ‘under-pressure’ departments.
More internships in under-pressure departments “are fundamental to attracting these young doctors to these areas that they do not know”, said Dr Mourgues.
His comments come after consumer association UFC-Que Choisir called in 2023 for independent doctors to be sent to areas of France with a shortage.
It attacked what it called the “dogma of freedom” of where doctors can practise, and said that “because there is a lack of doctors, we must rationalise the offer by prioritising the most under-served zones”.
Read more: Send independent doctors to parts of France with shortage, says report
Foreign qualifications
These under-tension departments have the highest proportions of doctors with foreign qualifications.
This is increasing nationwide, too, with 13.6% of doctors practising in France having foreign qualifications in 2025, up from 7.1% in 2010, the CNOM states.
- Ain and Eure: The number of doctors with foreign qualifications has more than doubled in 15 years.
- Mayenne: The number has almost doubled, from 65 doctors in 2010 to 122 in 2025.
Large cities still more ‘attractive’
Overall, large cities are still considered to be “more attractive” to professionals and newly-qualified practitioners, the order said.
Departments with the largest cities, “as well as those located on the coast or at the borders” still have the highest density of doctors per number of inhabitants.
In these cases:
- Paris leads, with 889 doctors per 100,000 inhabitants
- Hautes-Alpes is next, with 535.6
- Alpes-Maritimes is in third, with 487.
The two latter areas are closest to large cities, including in Italy.
Rural mayors have long raised the alert over France’s lack of medical cover in countryside areas, including in a report by the Association of French rural mayors (AMRF).
It found that those in rural areas with a lack of healthcare provision suffer poorer health outcomes, including a life expectancy of two years lower, 20% less access to medication, and 31% less access to chemotherapy and dialysis.
Read more: Which rural areas of France are hardest hit by lack of doctors?
Read also: France’s medical deserts ‘pushing more GPs to turn away new patients’
Read more: Lack of doctors in France ‘means rural residents are dying younger’
Similarly, a 2023 study of independent GPs published by the French government’s research and statistics bureau, la Direction de la recherche, des études, de l'évaluation et des statistiques (Drees), found that a lack of doctors in rural areas, combined with strong demand, was leading increased numbers of GPs to refuse new patients.
This leads to increased ‘medical deserts’. This is an area in which patients have trouble seeing a GP regularly, whether because they cannot get an appointment, there are not enough doctors, or because they live too far away from their nearest GP surgery.
The government defines the term specifically as an area in which patients have access to fewer than 2.5 consultations with a local GP per year on average.
Read more: Seven questions about ‘medical deserts’ in France
One group of villages in Normandy has become so frustrated with the lack of doctor access that it has launched a new medical bus, the Doctobus, at a cost of €70,000. The bus visits the eight communes regularly and carries everything needed for GP appointments. It is currently staffed mainly by retired GPs.
Although the government is working on plans to reduce GPs’ workload and bring in more doctors, former Health Minister François Braun admitted that France may not see a significant increase in doctor numbers for another 10 years.
He said: “[This is] insufficient, even though we are improving year-on-year.”
Younger practitioners
Younger practitioners are one of the ways in which medical deserts can be avoided, as they can replace older doctors once they retire.
However, “departments of regional metropolises and coastal areas” still attract the youngest practitioners, the order said.
Three of the four departments with the highest number of doctors under the age of 40 are on the Atlantic coast:
- Finistère: 39.9% of doctors are under age 40
- Maine-et-Loire: 39.1%
- Ille-et-Vilaine: 38.9%
Only Hautes-Alpes (39.7%) is a geographical exception.
