The number of doctors working at public health centers and sub-centers in South Korea has declined by more than 40 percent over the past ten years.

According to data released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare on Sunday, there were 14-hundred doctors employed at public health centers, sub-centers, and health posts nationwide in 2024, a 41-point-three percent drop from 2014.

This also represents a 15-point-seven percent decrease from 2023, when the figure stood at one-thousand-660.

The number of doctors at public health centers specifically fell by 34-point-eight percent over the decade, reaching 627 in 2024.

Smaller public health sub-centers and health posts saw an even steeper decline, with the number of doctors plunging 45-point-seven percent, from one-thousand-424 in 2014 to 773 in 2024.

The sharp drop is attributed to several factors, including relatively low salaries and benefits compared to the private sector, poor living conditions in rural areas, and a shrinking pool of public health doctors.