Long-term care

The interactive visualisations on this page allow you to compare data across 37 OECD member countries for the following indicators of long-term care usage and resourcing:

  • formal long-term care workers (total and FTE; at home; in institutions)
  • beds in residential long-term care facilities
  • long-term care recipients in institutions (other than hospitals)
  • long-term care recipients at home.

Key findings

In 2019 (or based on the latest year of data):

  • In the formal long-term care sector, the proportion of nurses and personal carers for the population aged 65 and over was above the OECD average in Australia, at 6.2% (though based on full-time equivalent (FTE) staff this was 3.7%—below the OECD average). Among OECD countries, this proportion was highest in Norway (12.4% (10.1% FTE)) and Sweden (12.1% (9.1% FTE))
  • For formal long-term care workers at home, Australia had the same proportion of personal carers for the total population aged 65 and over as the OECD average (2.0%), but a lower proportion of nurses than the OECD average (0.2% compared with 0.5%)
  • For formal long-term care workers in institutions, the proportion of nurses and personal carers for the total population aged 65 years and over in Australia was above the OECD average (4.0% compared with 2.4%)
  • Luxembourg had the highest proportion of beds in residential long-term care facilities, at 80.8 per 1,000 population aged 65 and over. Australia had fewer beds than this, at 51 per 1,000 population aged 65 and over, though this was greater than the OECD average of 42.8 beds per 1,000 population aged 65 and over.

 

This figure compares formal long-term care workers for OECD countries in 2019 or nearest year. The proportion of total nurses and personal carers for total population aged 65 and over was highest in Norway (12.4%) and lowest in Portugal (0.8%). In Australia, the proportion was 6.2%, higher than the OECD average of 5.8%.

This figure compares the beds in residential long-term care facilities for OECD countries in 2019 or nearest year. The beds per 1,000 population aged 65 and over was highest in Luxembourg (80.8) and lowest in Greece (1.8). In Australia, the beds per 1,000 population aged 65 and over was 51.0, higher than the OECD average of 42.8.

This figure shows long-term care recipients at home and in institutions (other than hospitals) for OECD countries in 2019 or nearest year. The proportion of long term care recipients in institutions aged 65+ was highest in Lithuania (10.6%) and lowest in Latvia (0.4%). The proportion of long term care recipients aged 65+ in Australia was 6.0%, above the OECD average of 4.0%.