3.6% experience unmet needs for medical care in 2024

In 2024, 3.6% of people aged 16 years or older in the EU who needed a medical examination or treatment reported that they were unable to receive it due to financial reasons, long waiting lists or distance from the medical providers.

The highest share of people with unmet medical needs was reported in Greece (21.9%), followed by Finland (12.4%) and Estonia (11.2%). By contrast, the lowest shares were recorded in Cyprus (0.1%), Malta (0.5%) and Czechia (0.6%).

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Source dataset: hlth_silc_08b

People at risk of poverty were more affected: 6.0% of them reported unmet medical needs, compared with 3.2% of those not at risk. The biggest differences between the two groups were observed in Greece (12.7 percentage points (pp)), Romania (10.7 pp) and Latvia (9.9 pp).

For more information

• Statistics Explained article on unmet health care needs statistics
• Thematic section on health
• Database on health
• Thematic section on living and income conditions 
• Database on living and income conditions 
• Key figures on European living conditions – 2024 edition

Methodological note

The data reflects unmet medical needs due to financial reasons, long waiting list or distance. Medical care refers to individual healthcare services (medical examination or treatment excluding dental care) provided by or under direct supervision of medical doctors or equivalent professions, as defined by national healthcare systems. Data refers to person’s own assessment of whether they needed examination or treatment in the previous 12 months but did not receive it or did not seek it.

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