In 2022, in the European Union there were 2.3 million hospital beds , 6.8% less thanin 2012 (171,110). Member states with most hospital beds were Germany (642,107), France (374,290), Poland (231,789), Spain (140,551) and Romania (138,618), according to data released by Eurostat on last Thursday. Reported to the size of the population, member counties with most hospital beds per 100,000 inhabitants are Bulgaria (823), Germany (766) and Romania (728). The EU average was 516 hospital beds per 100,000 people in 2022, on the drop compared to 563 hospital beds per 100,000 people in 2012. Member countries with fewest hospital beds per 100,000 people are Sweden (190), the Netherlands (245) and Denmark (261). Between 2012 and 2022 the total number of beds in EU dropped by 6.8%. In most EU states, the total number of hospital beds was lower in 2022 than in 2012. The most serious drop was recorded in Finland, where the total number dropped by 49.3% between 2012 and 2022. There were six EU member states where the total number of hospital beds grew in the last decade: Spain (0.5% increase), Portugal (1.1%), Romania (4.8%), Malta (9.2%), Bulgaria (13.2%) and Ireland (28.4%). Eurostat points out that the drop reflected the fact that beds for outgoing patients were excluded as well as scientific and technological progress which reduced the average hospital stay or replaced those procedures with outgoing ones.