South Korea had 2.2 medical doctors per 1,000 people in 2015, the fewest among member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, health authorities in Seoul said Monday.

The figure is far lower than the average 3.3 medical doctors of OECD member states, according to data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Korea’s number of licensed doctors includes physicians practicing oriental medicine. Korea was followed by Poland with 2.3, Japan and Mexico with 2.4, the US and Canada with 2.6 and the UK and Slovenia with 2.8.

Austria was the highest country with 5.1 doctors, followed by Norway with 4.4, Sweden and Switzerland with 4.2, and Germany with 4.1.

Other data showed that some regions were more deprived of doctors than others. Seoul and its surrounding areas had 2.8 doctors per 1,000 people, more than twice the 1.3 doctors per 1,000 registered in North Gyeongsang Province, according to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service.

The Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs also forecast that the country would run short of 1,800 doctors in 2020, and 7,600 in 2030, based on the assumption that the number of patients remains the same.

By Bak Se-hwan (sh@heraldcorp.com)