People in Türkiye made 1.139 billion visits to doctors in 2025, an average of 13.2 per person and a new record, according to Health Ministry statistics highlighted by Hürriyet on Oct. 15.
The total was up by about 92 million from 2024, when the average was 12.2 visits per person, and by 165.5 million from 973.5 million in 2023. The figures come from the ministry’s 2025 health statistics bulletin, with a fuller yearbook expected within a month, the newspaper said.
Family doctors carry a large share
About 41.3% of all visits, or 466.3 million, were made to family physicians and community health centres, the first tier of Türkiye’s public system. Every registered resident is assigned a family doctor, and appointments with public hospital specialists are booked through the Central Physician Appointment System (MHRS).
Per person, residents averaged 6.2 visits to state hospitals, 5.4 to family physicians and 0.8 to private hospitals in 2025. Private hospitals and polyclinics handled 66.4 million visits.
The highest rate of visits was in the Eastern Black Sea region, at 14.6 per person, followed by the Western Black Sea at 14.5. In Istanbul the figure was 11.8.
The Health Ministry has long said Turks visit doctors far more often than the European average of around six visits a year, which officials attribute partly to easy access, low out-of-pocket costs and repeat visits for prescriptions. The ministry is preparing a system that would let patients with long-term medication reports collect repeat medicines directly from pharmacies without a new prescription.
Fewer private hospitals, more doctors
The number of hospitals fell to 1,553 in 2025 from 1,562 a year earlier. Health Ministry hospitals rose by two to 943 and university hospitals by one to 70, while private hospitals dropped by 12 to 540. Istanbul has the most hospitals of any province, with 217, of which 146 are private.
The number of physicians rose 5.1% to 232,315 from 221,133, bringing the ratio to 270 per 100,000 people from 258. There were 62 dentists per 100,000 people, up from 59. Total health personnel exceeded 1.44 million.
What it means for foreign residents
Foreigners with residence permits who are covered by the Social Security Institution (SGK), Türkiye’s public health insurer, can use family doctors and public hospitals on the same terms as citizens, usually paying small contribution fees. Others typically rely on private health insurance, which is required for most residence permit applications, and many use private hospitals, particularly in Istanbul, Antalya and other cities popular with expats.
High demand can mean long waits for some specialist appointments in the public system, especially in large cities, which is one reason many residents combine public and private care.
Sources
- 86 milyon nüfusta 1 milyar 139 milyon muayene… Doktora müracaatlarda her yıl rekor kırılıyor (Hürriyet)
- Bakan Memişoğlu raporlu ilaçların reçetesiz alınmasını sağlayacak sistemi açıkladı (Habertürk)
Photo: MustafaOyunda155 / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
