Türkiye logged over 1 billion doctor visits and 116.6 million medical imaging procedures in 2024, the Health Ministry’s data has shown, illustrating the enormous demand on the national health care system and the leading position of public providers.
This marks a significant rise from the 973.5 million visits recorded in the previous year, an increase of 74 million in a single year — which, given a population of around 85 million, translates into exceptionally high utilization, daily Hürriyet reported on Feb. 25.
Of these visits, 450 million took place in primary care settings with family physicians, while 580.6 million occurred in hospitals.
Within the hospital sector, public institutions handled the vast majority with 466 million visits, followed by private hospitals with 66.2 million and university hospitals with 48.2 million.
In 2024, the country recorded an average of 2,870 medical examinations every single day.
Overall, 87 percent of all visits were handled by public facilities and family medicine, while only 6 percent took place in private hospitals.
Notably, while Türkiye’s population grew by just 1.6 percent since 2020, the number of doctor visits surged by 57 percent over the same period.
According to the figures, Türkiye ranks second among 35 countries in terms of doctor visits per physician, with an average of 12.2 visits per doctor per year.
Only South Korea ranks higher, with 18 visits per physician, while the EU average stands at around 6.3.
Türkiye currently delivers health care services through 1,562 hospitals, consisting of 941 public hospitals run by the ministry, 69 university hospitals and 552 private hospitals.
While the number of public hospitals increased in 2024, the private sector continued to shrink, according to the data.
Over the past five years, the health care sector integrated 41 new public hospitals, while 19 private hospitals closed, highlighting a gradual contraction of private capacity.
In 2024, Türkiye’s healthcare system managed 13.8 million hospitalizations and performed 6.2 million surgeries.
Public hospitals again carried the heaviest load, accounting for 8.2 million admissions and 3.6 million surgical procedures.
Meanwhile, private hospitals recorded 3.5 million hospitalizations and 1.4 million surgeries, with university hospitals contributing an additional 2 million patient admissions.
Out of a striking 116.6 million total medical imaging procedures, public hospitals once more performed the vast majority at 88 million, while private hospitals accounted for 16.4 million.
Türkiye also ranks first among 35 countries in MRI scans per capita, with 20,315 MRI scans per million people, far ahead of second-place Hungary at around 10,000.
