GP Shortage in Italy

Quick Summary

• Italy’s GP workforce is ageing, with over 7,300 GPs expected to retire by 2027.

• Many regions, especially in the south, already function as medical deserts.

• GP lists are full in multiple regions, delaying registrations and routine care.

• New digital and regional reforms aim to reduce pressure, but change will take time.

• Online consultations support non-urgent care when GP access is limited.

 

Italy has a strong healthcare system, but many people living there or who have just moved in are seeing the same problem. It is getting harder to find a family doctor, also called a medico di famiglia or medico di base. This may seem like a minor issue, but it is part of a much bigger GP shortage in Italy, which is also happening in other parts of Europe.

This problem is not caused only by short delays or busy months. Many studies show that Italy’s GP-to-patient ratio has been worsening for more than 10 years. National groups, such as research shared by Euronews, indicate that the number of active family doctors is declining, while the number of retirements is increasing. Italy’s population is getting older, more people now live with long-term illnesses, and many young doctors are choosing specialist jobs instead of primary care. All these things have made a gap that the system cannot easily fill.

The challenge is not only about how many doctors there are. It is also about where they work. Some northern cities have long waiting lists because GP spots are in high demand. In some southern regions, experts talk about medical deserts, which are areas where people find it hard to get basic primary care. This mix of uneven doctor numbers, an ageing workforce, and a growing need for care is now one of the most significant problems for people who need day-to-day healthcare.

In this article, we will examine why the doctor shortage in Italy has become so serious, how it affects residents, expats, and tourists, and what local authorities are doing about it. We will also explain when online medical consultations can help with non-emergency care, especially if someone is between GPs or travelling in Italy. These services work alongside the Italian healthcare system and can help with simple issues when booking an in-person appointment is difficult.

The goal is simple. We want to share the facts, explain the trends, and help you understand how healthcare works in Italy today. Let us begin with the key numbers that show the seriousness of the GP shortage in Italy.

 

GP Shortage in Italy: Key Facts and 2025 Overview

A brief overview of the main indicators showing how Italy’s GP workforce is shrinking and where pressure is highest.

Italy is now dealing with one of the most serious primary care shortages in Western Europe. At first, the country is doing well, with about 4.1 practising doctors per 1,000 people, which is slightly above the EU average. But this number does not show the real problem. Only a small share of these doctors work in primary care. European reports show that Italy has only about 68-80 general practitioners per 100,000 residents. This places Italy among the weaker EU countries in terms of the number of GPs.

National data shows that the number of GPs in Italy has decreased significantly. In 2023, the country had 37,260 family doctors, which is 4,749 fewer than in 2019. GIMBE’s workforce report also shows that more than 5,500 GP positions are open, and this gap keeps getting bigger every year.

Almost 51.2 million patients are now registered with GPs who are still working, so their workload is rising rapidly. The national average is about 1,374 patients per GP. GIMBE also reports that more than 51 percent of family doctors look after more than the usual limit of 1,500 patients, mainly because they have no other option.

Retirements are speeding up. A national report says that about 2,228 GPs and 444 paediatricians will retire every year for the next five years. Some regions in the south may lose more than 70 percent of their current GP workforce. By 2027, more than 7,300 family doctors could leave the system, creating one of the most significant primary care gaps Italy has ever faced.

Regional differences make the GP shortage even more evident. Southern areas like Calabria, Sicily, and parts of Campania are often called medical deserts because they have long struggled with poor primary care. An Euronews report explains that Calabria has around 1,700 GPs for almost two million people, and about one in five residents travel to another region for care because local services are so limited.

Northern regions also face problems. Venice, for example, has warned that 44 GPs will retire in the near future. The city has already started recruitment campaigns because local clinics cannot take on more patients.

Overall, Italy’s GP shortage is driven by an ageing workforce, fewer active family doctors, uneven regional distribution, and rising demand. These long-term issues affect daily healthcare for residents, expats, students, and travellers across the country.

Indicator	Latest Figure	Notes / Context
Practising doctors per 1,000 residents	About 4.1	Above the EU average, but only a small share work in primary care
GP density per 100,000 residents	Approximately 68 to 80	Among the lowest GP densities in Western Europe
Number of active GPs (2023)	37,260	Down by 4,749 since 2019
Vacant GP positions	More than 5,500	National workforce analyses show growing yearly gaps
Average patients per GP	About 1,374	Over half of GPs exceed the usual 1,500 patient limit
Workforce age	Over 50 percent are aged above 55	One of the oldest GP workforces in Europe
GPs retiring each year (projected)	About 2,228	Combined with paediatricians, roughly 2,672 retirements yearly
Total projected GP retirements by 2027	More than 7,300	Expected to deepen regional shortages
Regions described as medical deserts	Calabria, Sicily, parts of Campania, and mountain areas	Some towns have no available GPs
Example regional strain	About 1,700 GPs serve nearly two million people in Calabria	One in five residents travels elsewhere for care
Northern pressures	Venice is seeking 44 new GPs due to retirements	Practices are already working at capacity

What Is Driving the GP Shortage in Italy?

Italy’s shortage is the result of long-term demographic, structural, and workforce trends converging at the same time.

The GP shortage in Italy is not caused by one problem. It has built up over the last 15 to 20 years because many long-term issues have come together. These problems affect how many new GPs are trained, how many stay in the job, where they choose to work, and how heavy their daily workload is. All of this makes it harder for Italy to maintain stable access to primary care.

Here is a brief overview of the main reasons behind the GP shortage in Italy.

Ageing GP Workforce

One of the most significant problems is the age of Italy’s doctors. Italy has some of the oldest practising doctors in Europe, including GPs.

Important points:

• More than half of Italian doctors are aged 55 or older.
  
  
• Over 20 percent are 65 or older, indicating many are close to retirement.
  
  
• Some regions have average GP ages above 58, and some rely primarily on GPs aged 60 to 70.
  
  
• Not enough new GPs are entering the workforce to replace those who retire.
  
  

This is why experts say that Italy has an ageing wave of GPs leaving the system, while too few young doctors choose family medicine.

Retirements Outpacing New Graduates

Even though the number of training places has increased, Italy cannot replace GPs fast enough.

Key facts:

• Around 2,228 family doctors are expected to retire every year for the next five years.
  
  
• If paediatricians in primary care are included, this rises to about 2,672 clinicians leaving each year.
  
  
• By 2027, more than 7,300 GPs may retire.
  
  
• Some southern regions could lose up to 70 percent of their current family doctors.
  
  

At the same time:

• Some GP training spots remain unfilled.
  
  
• Young doctors prefer specialist or hospital jobs.
  
  
• Workforce planning has not kept up with the rising number of retirements.
  
  

This is why the GP shortage in Italy keeps getting worse, not better.

Funding and Contract Pressures

The way GP work is organised in Italy also adds pressure.

Common challenges:

• GPs spend a lot of time on paperwork, which reduces the time they have for patients.
  
  
• Many GPs manage 1,400 to 1,800 patients, which is above the recommended limit.
  
  
• Support staff funding varies by region, so some GPs work without enough help.
  
  
• Local health services do not always invest enough in clinics or systems.
  
  
• Younger doctors feel GP work is less structured and more demanding than hospital roles.
  
  

Because of this, family medicine seems less appealing to new doctors.

Career Preferences and Workforce Shifts

Young doctors today make different career choices than older generations.

Trends include:

• More interest in specialist jobs rather than GP work.
  
  
• Preference for hospital roles with fixed hours and clear career paths.
  
  
• More graduates are moving abroad for training or work.
  
  
• Stronger interest in part-time or mixed roles instead of long-term family practice.
  
  
• Less interest in taking over retiring GPs’ clinics.
  
  

These trends reduce the number of new GPs entering the system.

Population Ageing and Rising Chronic Illness

Italy has one of the oldest populations in the world, which increases the need for primary care.

• More than 14 million people in Italy are aged 65 or older.
  
  
• Over half have two or more chronic illnesses and need regular check-ups and prescriptions.
  
  
• This makes GP work more time-consuming and complex, especially in areas with few specialists.
  
  
• With fewer GPs and more complex patient needs, demand grows faster than supply.
  
  

Decentralised Health System and Uneven Workforce Planning

Italy’s healthcare system is highly decentralised, meaning each region manages primary care independently.

This leads to:

• Different levels of funding and support.
  
  
• Uneven GP recruitment.
  
  
• Varying responses to retirements.
  
  
• Some regions are struggling to attract new doctors due to lower budgets.
  
  

While decentralisation allows regions to plan based on local needs, it also creates gaps in the most vulnerable areas.

How the GP Shortage Affects Patients in Italy

The GP shortage in Italy has a clear and often frustrating impact on everyday healthcare. Whether someone is a long-term resident, an expat moving to a new city, or a tourist seeking a doctor in Italy, the shortage of family doctors makes it harder for people to access basic support. Below are the main ways this shortage appears in real life across the country.

Difficulty Registering with a Medico di Famiglia

Registering with a family doctor in Italy is an essential step in the healthcare system, but it has become more complicated than before.

Key issues patients face:

• Complete GP lists are now standard in many regions. When all local GPs reach maximum capacity, new residents are placed on waiting lists.
  
  
• In areas with high retirements, local health offices may have no available GPs, so patients must register far outside their neighbourhood or town.
  
  
• People who move between regions often struggle to re-register quickly, leaving them without a regular doctor for some time.
  
  
• In large cities, especially Rome, newly arrived residents often face long waits before they can register with a medico di famiglia.
  
  
• In parts of Calabria, Sicily, and mountain regions, towns have no GP posts, a phenomenon similar to what experts call medical deserts in Italy's primary care.
  
  

For residents, this creates stress. For newcomers, especially GPs in Italy for foreigners, it becomes one of the biggest challenges when joining the healthcare system.

Long Waiting Times for Routine Care

Appointments that used to be quick can now take much longer.

Common experiences include:

• Waiting days or weeks for non-urgent visits in busy areas.
  
  
• Limited follow-up appointment slots, which slow down care for long-term illnesses.
  
  
• Shorter consultation times when GPs are managing more than 1,500 patients.
  
  
• Delays in preventive care, such as screening or check-ups for chronic problems.
  
  

When routine care slows down, people often visit urgent care or emergency departments for issues that usually belong in primary care.

Regional Medical Deserts and Underserved Areas

Some regions feel the shortage much more strongly than others. These underserved areas are often described as medical deserts.

Examples include:

• Calabria, where around 1,700 GPs care for almost two million people. This Calabria doctor shortage means one in five residents travels outside the region for help.
  
  
• Parts of Sicily and Basilicata, where older GP populations and fewer young recruits leave whole districts without stable care.
  
  
• Even some inner city areas in the north, such as Milan, face pressure as population growth and retirements combine.
  
  
• Mountain towns and rural areas like Lake Como where retiring GPs are not replaced for long periods.
  
  
• Even some inner city areas in the north face pressure as population growth and retirements combine.
  
  

In these places, people often deal with long travel times, crowded clinics, or irregular access to primary care.

Extra Barriers for Expats, Students, and Travellers

Italy welcomes many foreign residents, students, and millions of tourists each year. The shortage affects them differently.

Challenges include:

• Difficulty finding an English-speaking doctor in Italy in areas where practices are already full.
  
  
• Slow or confusing registration for new arrivals who need a medico di famiglia before they can get routine care.
  
  
• International students using temporary registration who cannot find clinics near their accommodation.
  
  
• Tourists seeking medical care in Italy may struggle to get quick help for non-urgent issues, especially in busy cities or small towns.
  
  

These barriers can make it harder for foreigners to navigate the system compared with locals.

Reduced Continuity and Follow-Up

Continuity of care is one of the strongest parts of Italy’s GP model, but shortages are weakening this key benefit.

What patients notice:

• Rapid retirements mean many people lose long-term doctors. Finding replacements is harder during the doctor shortage in Italy.
  
  
• New GPs may already have large patient lists, so appointments are shorter and less detailed.
  
  
• People with chronic conditions experience longer waits between check-ups.
  
  

This loss of continuity affects trust, quality of care, and overall satisfaction.

How Authorities Are Responding to the GP Shortage in Italy

National and regional leaders are introducing training, workforce, and organisational reforms to stabilise primary care capacity.

The GP shortage in Italy has become so serious that national and regional authorities now see it as a long-term issue, not one that will be resolved quickly. Different plans are being put in place to strengthen primary care, attract new doctors, and improve access in areas with the most significant gaps. Progress varies across regions, but the goal is clear. Italy is trying to rebuild and redesign its primary care system over the next decade.

Below is a simple breakdown of how authorities are responding.

Expanding Training Pathways for Family Medicine

One of the main strategies is to offer more training places for new family doctors in Italy.

Key developments include:

• Increased funding for Formazione in Medicina Generale, which is the main GP training pathway.
  
  
• Higher intake targets for medical graduates who want to enter primary care.
  
  
• More structured training rotations to make community medicine more appealing.
  
  
• Efforts to improve training contracts so that fewer students feel discouraged from applying.
  
  

Even with these changes, some regions still cannot fill all their training positions, indicating that the new supply is not keeping pace with retirements.

Incentives for Underserved Regions

To fix uneven distribution, many regions are offering incentives to encourage young doctors to work in areas with the most significant shortages.

These incentives include:

• Financial bonuses or extra salary for GPs who take up posts in rural or high-need areas.
  
  
• Housing support, especially in remote or expensive places.
  
  
• Better contract terms, such as flexible hours or lighter administrative work.
  
  
• Priority access to training and education for GPs working in underserved communities.
  
  

Southern regions like Calabria and Sicily have been very active, though uptake still varies due to concerns about workload.

New Community Healthcare Models

The government is introducing a new system called Case della Comunità, also known as Community Health Houses. These centres aim to bring different healthcare services together in one place.

Key features of these centres:

• Teams made up of GPs, nurses, social workers, and physiotherapists.
  
  
• Longer opening hours in some regions to ease pressure on emergency services.
  
  
• Better management plans for chronic illnesses.
  
  
• Essential services in one location, including vaccinations, screening, home care coordination, and administrative help.
  
  

These centres are designed to reduce pressure on individual GP practices by sharing tasks across teams.

Digital Health and E-Prescription Adoption

Italy is also improving digital tools to make primary care work more smoothly.

Current digital initiatives include:

• Nationwide electronic prescriptions make renewals and dispensing easier.
  
  
• Expanded shared electronic health records to support continuity between GPs and specialists.
  
  
• Regional telemedicine projects for chronic disease monitoring and follow-up care.
  
  
• Funding to upgrade digital systems in small or remote clinics.
  
  

The aim is to reduce paperwork and help patients move more easily through the healthcare system.

Local Recruitment Campaigns

Some cities and towns are running their own campaigns to bring in new GPs quickly.

Examples:

• Venice has launched public campaigns to attract new GPs, as more than 40 family doctors are expected to retire soon.
  
  
• Small towns in Calabria and Sardinia have offered housing, financial support, and other benefits to make the roles more appealing.
  
  
• Alpine regions in the north have been advertised across Italy and abroad, promoting quality of life alongside clinical work.
  
  

These efforts show how urgent it has become to keep basic primary care services running.

Strengthening Collaboration Between Primary and Secondary Care

Authorities are trying to improve teamwork between GPs, specialists, and hospitals to make the system run more smoothly.

Actions include:

• Standardised referral pathways to avoid unnecessary specialist visits.
  
  
• Shared care plans for chronic illnesses such as diabetes or heart conditions.
  
  
• Better links between GP cooperatives and hospital outpatient departments.
  
  
• Incentives for multidisciplinary models in high-need regions.
  
  

These steps help reduce GP workload and improve patient results.

Long-Term National Workforce Strategies

Italy has also started preparing long-term plans to avoid future shortages.

Long-term strategies now include:

• Predictive models to understand retirements and future training needs.
  
  
• Stronger coordination between universities, regional health offices, and the Ministry of Health.
  
  
• Workforce planning based on population age, chronic disease, and regional needs.
  
  
• National guidance on GP to population ratios to support recruitment strategies.
  
  

These strategies are still developing, but they show a shift from short-term fixes to long-term planning.

Response Area	Key Actions	Impact / Goal
Expanding GP Training Programs	More funding for family medicine training, more training places, better structured rotations	Bring more new GPs into the workforce to replace those who retire
Incentives for Underserved Regions	Extra pay, housing help, flexible contracts, and priority access to training	Encourage young doctors to work in rural areas, the south, and towns with significant shortages
Community Health Houses (Case della Comunità)	Centres with GPs, nurses, social workers, and other health staff working together	Reduce pressure on single GP practices and give patients easier access to ongoing care
Digital Health and E-Prescription Expansion	Electronic prescriptions, shared health records, and telemedicine projects for long-term conditions	Cut down paperwork, improve continuity, and avoid unnecessary visits
Local Recruitment Campaigns	Cities like Venice and towns in Calabria and Sardinia are offering incentives and public campaigns	Quickly fill urgent GP vacancies and keep basic services running in high need areas
Primary and Secondary Care Coordination	Clear referral pathways, shared care plans, and stronger teamwork between hospitals and GP groups	Make the system more efficient, lighten GP workload, and improve care for chronic illness
National Workforce Planning	Predicting retirements, better coordination between regions and medical schools, and national rules for GP numbers	Build a long-term plan to keep GP numbers steady and avoid future shortages.

What Patients Can Do If They Cannot Find a GP in Italy

• Check ASL availability lists in your region

• Register with a medico di famiglia in a neighbouring municipality

• Use temporary assignment options (available in some regions)

• Ask ASL for a list of doctors accepting new patients

• Use online consultations for non-urgent concerns while waiting

• Bring copies of medical history to ease transitions

Where Online Care Fits Into Italy’s GP System

Online consultations offer practical support for non-urgent issues when in-person GP access is limited or delayed.

Because of the GP shortage in Italy, many people find it harder to get primary care appointments, especially in areas where family doctors already have complete patient lists. Online medical consultations can help in certain non-emergency situations. They give people a simple way to get advice, ask questions, and manage straightforward health concerns when in-person care is challenging to access.

Here is how online care fits into Italy's healthcare system.

Online Medical Consultations for Non-Emergency Needs

Online consultations can be helpful when someone cannot get an appointment with their medico di famiglia or is still waiting to register with one. They can help with:

• Simple, non-emergency health problems that do not always need a physical examination
  
  
• Asking for medical advice or follow-up information
  
  
• Requesting prescription renewals when allowed
  
  
• Getting support while travelling in Italy or after arriving from another country
  
  
• Conditions that can be safely assessed through clear online explanations and images
  
  

These services give people a practical option when routine appointments take days or even weeks.

Designed to Support, Not Replace, GP Care

Online care does not replace in-person GP care, nor does it replace the need to register with a family doctor when required by regional rules.

Important points to remember:

• Online consultations are not suitable for emergencies
  
  
• They cannot replace long-term follow-up or care for complex health conditions.
  
  
• They work best as short-term support, especially for people who already have a GP but cannot get a timely appointment.
  
  

Online services are meant to help patients fill small gaps without replacing local doctors.

A service like Mobi Doctor can fit into this support role by giving people access to EU-licensed doctors for simple, non-emergency needs when they cannot reach their usual GP or are still waiting to register.