Which country around the world has the highest ratio of veterinarians per capita? If you said Lativa, you’d be right. Latvia has a population of 1.9 million people and has 129 veterinarians per 100,000 inhabitants. Which country is second? That would be the country where I am from, Brazil, which has 77.4 veterinarians per 100,000 inhabitants, or 166,119 practicing veterinarians in a population of 214 million. By contrast, the average across Europe is 38 veterinarians per 100,000 inhabitants.
Brazil may be experiencing a new boom in veterinary medicine, with the development of new veterinary specialties and a consequent increase in the standard of care for dogs and cats. This is a great opportunity for companies in the sector.
Despite this, there is a worry that there are too many veterinarians in Brazil. Many feel that this oversupply has led to stiff competition for jobs, lower salaries, and a decline in the quality of veterinary care.
Perhaps the oversupply of veterinarians is starting to impact younger veterinarians as a recent study shows a much greater level of dissatisfaction with their veterinary medicine coursework than older veterinarians. It would be a shame that as Brazil’s resilient economy strengthens and veterinary services for pets improves, veterinarians are more unhappy.
Mauri Ronan Moreira
English (United States) 
Portuguese