👩‍⚕️ Compared to Everyone Else, Americans Rarely Go to the Doctor

What We’re Showing:

This chart tracks the number of in-person doctor visits per year by country. Data is sourced from the OECD, as of 2021, or the latest year available. 

An Apple a Day…?

Americans really don’t like visiting the doctor, averaging just two visits a year, one of the lowest rates in the world.

The OECD states that a large majority of the population face high co-payments, which may reduce the incentive for people to get regular checkups.

Aside from that, nurse practitioners and other healthcare professionals play an outsized role in treating patients, especially those with chronic conditions, which means actual doctor visits are reduced.

Doctor! Doctor!

On the other hand, South Koreans visit the doctor the most, on average 16 times a year.

This isn’t because of the relative health of the population—but rather the country’s famously fast and efficient healthcare apparatus. Like the U.S., it has a fee-for-service system which allows patients to access what they need—but with very little wait times.

And, unlike the U.S., South Korea’s national insurance program covers over 70% of the medical bills, lessening individual costs.