A statistical snapshot of the global eye care workforce

A new study published in AJO International has attempted to estimate the global eye care workforce – including ophthalmologists and optometrists.

The researchers estimated that there are 275,551 ophthalmologists worldwide and 306,711 optometrists.

They found that seven of the 166 countries that provided data were home to half of the global optometry workforce (the United States, India, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Japan, and China).

Within ophthalmology, six of the 156 countries that reported data accounted for half of the global ophthalmologist workforce (China, India, the United States, Brazil, Russia, and Japan).

The average optometrist density across the world was 39 optometrists per million people – however, there was broad variation.

In Denmark, there are 623 optometrists per million people, while in seven Sub-Saharan African nations there were fewer than one optometrist per million people. In the UK, there are 295 optometrists per million people.

A total of 20 countries reported having no optometrists, and seven Pacific Island nations reported having no ophthalmologists.

“The data reveals critical gaps in workforce distribution that contribute to the growing burden of vision impairment. Our findings underscore the need for policy interventions aimed at expanding the workforce,” the researchers highlighted.