Dentists per 100,000 people on a practising or employed basis: Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Qatar (JP and QA count employed dentists)

TL;DR

• Japan had 80.9 employed dentists per 100,000 people in 2024, and Qatar had 78.1 employed dentists per 100,000 people in 2025. [1][2]
• On a practising basis, Australia had 65.6 dentists per 100,000 people in 2024, South Korea 55.7 in 2024, Singapore 46.0 in 2025 and Malaysia 41.4 in 2024. [3][4][5][6]
• The headline rates for South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Qatar are rated A, and those for Japan and Australia are rated B. [1][2][3][4][5][6]
• South Korea's 55.7 practising dentists per 100,000 people in 2024 is 1.3 times Malaysia's 41.4 practising dentists per 100,000 in 2024, and both rates are rated A. [4][6]

Headline dentist densities using World Bank population

The dataset's headline rate divides each market's practising or employed dentist count by World Bank total population for the same year. [1][2][3][4][5][6]

Japan had 80.9 employed dentists per 100,000 people in 2024, based on 100,266 dentists at medical facilities (hospital or clinic) and a World Bank population of 123,975,371. [1][7]

South Korea had 55.7 practising dentists per 100,000 people in 2024, based on an OECD count of 28,836 practising dentists and a World Bank population of 51,751,065. [4][8]

Malaysia had 41.4 practising dentists per 100,000 people in 2024, based on 14,720 practising dentists holding a 2024 Annual Practising Certificate from the Malaysian Dental Council and a World Bank population of 35,557,673. [6][9]

Singapore had 46.0 practising dentists per 100,000 people in 2025, based on 2,814 dentists with valid practising certificates as at 31 December 2025 and a World Bank population of 6,111,175. [5][10]

Australia had 65.6 practising dentists per 100,000 people in 2024, based on an OECD practising count of 17,831 that the OECD flags as an estimate and a World Bank population of 27,194,286. [3][8]

Qatar had 78.1 employed dentists per 100,000 people in 2025, using a World Bank population of 2,972,215. [2]

Qatar's numerator for 2025 is 2,320 employed dentists in the government + private sectors. [11]

Where definitions differ: practising versus employed

Japan's headline rate is rated B, and its numerator is an employed count of dentists at medical facilities (hospital or clinic) that excludes dentists in administration, research or without a post. [1][7]

The dataset classes this employed count as the best Japanese match for practising dentists. [7]

Qatar's headline rate is rated A and counts employed dentists in the government + private sectors, and the dataset notes that Qatar publishes working-staff counts. [2][11]

Australia's headline rate is rated B, and its OECD practising numerator carries an OECD estimate flag. [3][8]

South Korea's numerator follows the OECD practising definition of dentists providing care directly to patients, compiled by the OECD from national MOHW data. [8]

Malaysia's numerator counts Division I dental surgeons issued with an Annual Practising Certificate in the public and private sectors, and Singapore's numerator counts dentists holding a valid practising certificate. [9][10]

Other bases held in the dataset

Japan's registered-basis rate of 83.7 dentists per 100,000 population in 2024 counts notified dentists and is not the dataset's headline rate for Japan. [1][7]

OECD reports South Korea's practising dentist density for 2024 as 0.56 per 1,000, which is 56.0 per 100,000, on an OECD/UN population basis. [8]

The dataset's headline for South Korea, 55.7 practising dentists per 100,000 people in 2024, uses World Bank total population as its denominator. [4]

Which comparisons are safe

South Korea's 55.7 practising dentists per 100,000 people in 2024 is 1.3 times Malaysia's 41.4 practising dentists per 100,000 in 2024, and both rates are rated A. [4][6]

Singapore's 46.0 practising dentists per 100,000 people refers to 2025, one year after the 2024 reference year of the South Korean and Malaysian rates. [4][5][6]

Australia's 65.6 practising dentists per 100,000 people in 2024 is on the same practising basis as South Korea and Malaysia, but Australia's headline rate is rated B while theirs are rated A. [3][4][6]

Japan's 80.9 employed dentists per 100,000 people in 2024 and Qatar's 78.1 employed dentists per 100,000 people in 2025 are on an employed basis and are not directly comparable with the other four markets' headline rates. [1][2]

Japan and Qatar also differ from each other in reference year and rating, with Japan rated B for 2024 and Qatar rated A for 2025. [1][2]

Japan's registered-basis rate of 83.7 dentists per 100,000 population in 2024 should not be set against any headline rate in this brief. [7]

Recent change in the underlying counts

Japan's employed dentists at medical facilities (hospital or clinic) fell from 101,919 in 2022 to 100,266 in 2024, a change of -1.6%. [7]

South Korea's practising dentists rose from 28,392 in 2023 to 28,836 in 2024, a change of 1.6%. [8]

Malaysia's practising dentists with an Annual Practising Certificate rose from 14,255 in 2023 to 14,720 in 2024, a change of 3.3%. [9]

Gaps

South Korea has documented nulls for dental hygienists and dental technicians.

Qatar has documented nulls for dental hygienists and dental technicians.

Singapore has structural documented nulls for dental technicians, and its dental graduate records exist but are not citable.

Malaysia's population records exist but are not citable, and its headline rate uses World Bank population. [6]

Japan's coverage row lists citable employed-basis records for dental hygienists and dental technicians, which this brief does not use.

Australia's coverage row lists dental technicians on an employed basis and dental hygienists on a registered basis.

Notes on definitions

• Practising and employed counts measure different groups of dentists; Japan and Qatar headline rates use employed counts.
• Headline rates use World Bank total population; rates built on national-statistics or OECD population denominators give other values and are not the headline.
• The Australian headline record does not state what its B rating reflects.

Calculations

Derived figures were computed by Dental Market Radar's whitelisted calculator from the cited records:

• ratio(kr.dentists_per_100k.2024-hl=55.7; my.dentists_per_100k.2024-hl=41.4): 55.7 / 41.4 = 1.3 [ratio]
• pct_change(jp.dentists_practising.2022=101919; jp.dentists_practising.2024=100266): (100,266 - 101,919) / 101,919 x 100 = -1.6 [pct_change]
• pct_change(kr.dentists_practising.2023=28392; kr.dentists_practising.2024=28836): (28,836 - 28,392) / 28,392 x 100 = 1.6 [pct_change]
• pct_change(my.dentists_practising.2023=14255; my.dentists_practising.2024=14720): (14,720 - 14,255) / 14,255 x 100 = 3.3 [pct_change]

Sources

1. World Bank WDI: Population, total (SP.POP.TOTL). https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/JPN/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?format=json&date=2024:2024 (accessed 2026-11-09)
2. World Bank WDI: Population, total (SP.POP.TOTL). https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/QAT/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?format=json&date=2025:2025 (accessed 2026-11-09)
3. World Bank WDI: Population, total (SP.POP.TOTL). https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/AUS/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?format=json&date=2024:2024 (accessed 2026-11-09)
4. World Bank WDI: Population, total (SP.POP.TOTL). https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/KOR/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?format=json&date=2024:2024 (accessed 2026-11-09)
5. World Bank WDI: Population, total (SP.POP.TOTL). https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/SGP/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?format=json&date=2025:2025 (accessed 2026-11-09)
6. World Bank WDI: Population, total (SP.POP.TOTL). https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/MYS/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?format=json&date=2024:2024 (accessed 2026-11-09)
7. Survey of Physicians, Dentists and Pharmacists 2024 (Overview). https://www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/saikin/hw/ishi/24/dl/R06_1gaikyo.pdf (accessed 2026-11-09)
8. OECD Health Statistics: Healthcare human resources (SDMX API, dataflow DSD_HEALTH_EMP_REAC@DF_REAC). https://sdmx.oecd.org/public/rest/data/OECD.ELS.HD,DSD_HEALTH_EMP_REAC@DF_REAC,1.1/KOR+JPN+AUS.........?startPeriod=2018 (accessed 2026-11-08)
9. Statistics from Malaysian Dental Council - 2024. https://hq.moh.gov.my/ohp/mdc/statistic/mdc-annual-report.html (accessed 2026-11-09)
10. Singapore Dental Council Annual Report 2025. https://file.go.gov.sg/sdc-annual-report-2025.pdf (accessed 2026-11-09)
11. Chapter VI Health Services Statistics 2025 (Arabic/English). https://www.npc.qa/en/statistics/Statistical%20Releases/Social/Health/Health_6_2025_AE.pdf (accessed 2026-11-09)

AI-assisted brief: researched and written by the Dental Market Radar Workforce Desk AI pipeline. Every number was machine-checked against the cited source text; editor review pending.

Data used

• Australia: Dentists per 100,000 population – 65.6 per 100,000 as of 2024-12-31
• Australia: Dentists (practising) – 17,831 persons as of 2024-12-31
• Japan: Dentists per 100,000 population – 83.7 per 100,000 as of 2024-12-31
• Japan: Dentists per 100,000 population – 80.9 per 100,000 as of 2024-12-31
• Japan: Dentists (practising) – 101,919 persons as of 2022-12-31
• Japan: Dentists (practising) – 100,266 persons as of 2024-12-31
• South Korea: Dentists per 100,000 population – 56 per 100,000 as of 2024-12-31
• South Korea: Dentists per 100,000 population – 55.7 per 100,000 as of 2024-12-31
• South Korea: Dentists (practising) – 28,392 persons as of 2023-12-31
• South Korea: Dentists (practising) – 28,836 persons as of 2024-12-31
• Malaysia: Dentists per 100,000 population – 41.4 per 100,000 as of 2024-12-31 [series break 2024]
• Malaysia: Dentists (practising) – 14,255 persons as of 2023-12-31
• Malaysia: Dentists (practising) – 14,720 persons as of 2024-12-31
• Qatar: Dentists per 100,000 population – 78.1 per 100,000 as of 2025-12-31
• Qatar: Dentists (practising) – 2,320 persons as of 2025-12-31
• Singapore: Dentists per 100,000 population – 46 per 100,000 as of 2025-12-31
• Singapore: Dentists (practising) – 2,814 persons as of 2025-12-31

Source links

Numbers in square brackets in the text link to this list.

1. World Bank WDI: Population, total (SP.POP.TOTL) (accessed 2026-11-09)
2. World Bank WDI: Population, total (SP.POP.TOTL) (accessed 2026-11-09)
3. World Bank WDI: Population, total (SP.POP.TOTL) (accessed 2026-11-09)
4. World Bank WDI: Population, total (SP.POP.TOTL) (accessed 2026-11-09)
5. World Bank WDI: Population, total (SP.POP.TOTL) (accessed 2026-11-09)
6. World Bank WDI: Population, total (SP.POP.TOTL) (accessed 2026-11-09)
7. Survey of Physicians, Dentists and Pharmacists 2024 (Overview) (accessed 2026-11-09)
8. OECD Health Statistics: Healthcare human resources (SDMX API, dataflow DSD_HEALTH_EMP_REAC@DF_REAC) (accessed 2026-11-08)
9. Statistics from Malaysian Dental Council - 2024 (accessed 2026-11-09)
10. Singapore Dental Council Annual Report 2025 (accessed 2026-11-09)
11. Chapter VI Health Services Statistics 2025 (Arabic/English) (accessed 2026-11-09)