Liberal doctors recorded an average income of 124,000 euros between 2017 and 2021 after charges and before income tax according to a Drees study.
The average working income of private doctors increased by 0.6% per year (excluding inflation) between 2017 and 2021 to stand at 124,000 euros, or 10,000 euros per month, according to Drees, the statistical department of social ministries . This income is after expenses and before income tax.
Doctors remain at the top of income for all liberal professions, above for example the second best paid sector, legal and accounting services to businesses (102,500 euros in average annual income), indicates the Drees in a study published Friday.
Disparities according to specialties
But the gains in remuneration of private doctors between 2017 and 2021 were less significant than between 2014 and 2017 (+1.9%). A slowdown which is “undoubtedly” explained by the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused a drop in activity among private doctors, and slightly higher inflation over the period, according to Drees.
Furthermore, the remuneration of private doctors hides clear disparities, depending on the specialty or the number of years they have been established. General practitioners and other general practitioners (allergists, geriatricians, emergency physicians) benefited from an average income of 98,300 euros in 2021, an annual increase of 0.7% on average since 2017.
The other specialists, for their part, recorded an average income of 153,300 euros in 2021, in slight erosion (-0.1% per year on average over the period 2017-2021).
Younger doctors hardest hit by Covid-19
“Among the highest average annual incomes, those of radiotherapists (417,500 euros), nuclear doctors (283,300 euros) and radiologists (212,700 euros) particularly stand out,” notes the Drees.
“In contrast, the average income of psychiatrists and neuropsychiatrists amounts to 92,800 euros, that of rheumatologists to 92,200 euros and of pediatricians to 88,400 euros,” she notes.
Drees statistics also show that the health crisis has particularly affected doctors who have been established for less than 10 years.
A doctor established for less than 10 years had an income falling by 2.8% per year on average over the period, while that of his counterpart established for 10 to 29 years increased on average by 2.9% per year (2 .3% for a doctor established for 30 years or more).
