EDITED VERSION

This is an edited version of the Human Resources Project 2018. The full version is available
from the WFOT website www.wfot.org - Members Only

Login to access over 40 slides of country specific data that includes:
Number of occupational therapists per 10,000 head of population
Number of students and graduates studying on WFOT Approved and Non Approved Education Programmes
Registration requirements to practise at a national and regional levels
Countries that require evidence of Continuing Professional Development
Services that occupational therapy is provided
Areas with shortages of occupational therapists
Percentage of occupational therapists who work in public and non public funded services
Migration trends
WFOT Member Organisations that track the migration of occupational therapists educated in their country

Number of WFOT Member Organisations surveyed = 88
Number of WFOT Member Organisations that responded = 86
Response rate = 98%
WFOT Member Organisations that responded; Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium,Bermuda, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark,Dominican Republic, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Haiti, Hong Kong, Iceland,India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Republic of Korea, Latvia,Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia,
The Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Romania,Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland,Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom,
United States of America, Zambia, Zimbabwe

WFOT Member Organisations did not respond; Georgia, Venezuela
Non WFOT Member Organisations that provided data about the number of practising occupational
therapists; Bonaire, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Cuba, Lebanon, Nepal
Date questionnaire circulated: 2nd November 2017
Data collection method - online, circulated by WFOT Secretariat by email
Compiled and designed by Ritchard Ledgerd, Executive Director

ARGENTINAARMENIA
AUSTRALIA
AUSTRIA*BANGLADESHBELGIUM
BERMUDABRAZILBONAIRE**BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA**BOTSWANA**BULGARIACANADACHILECOLOMBIACOSTA RICA
CROATIA
CUBA**CYPRUSCZECH REPUBLIC
DENMARKDOMINICAN REPUBLICESTONIA
FAROE ISLANDSFINLANDFRANCEGERMANY
GHANA
GREECEHAITI
HONG KONG
ICELAND
INDIA
INDONESIAIRELANDISRAELITALYJAPANJORDANKAZAKHSTANKENYAREPUBLIC OF KOREAKOSOVOLATVIALEBANON**
LITHUANIALUXEMBOURG
MACAU
MADAGASCARMALAWI
MALAYSIA
MALTA
MAURITIUS
MEXICO
MOROCCONAMIBIANEPAL**NETHERLANDSNEW ZEALANDNIGERIANORWAYPAKISTANPALESTINE
PANAMAPERU
PHILIPPINESPORTUGALROMANIARUSSIARWANDASAUDI ARABIASEYCHELLESSINGAPORESLOVENIA
SOUTH AFRICASPAIN
SRI LANKASWEDENSWITZERLAND
TAIWANTANZANIATHAILAND
TRINIDAD & TOBAGOTUNISIA
TURKEYUGANDAUKRAINE
UNITED KINGDOMUNITED STATES OF AMERICAZAMBIA
ZIMBABWE

11000

6190

500
4800
14000
10145
90700
300
901082000
12070
447
680
64400
2637
204600150
120200500
3882
1536
204331000
31175
489
5066
8400
142
11000
3100
2711
128
1170
22330169
165
1221700
52061
300
6000
1500
2430
4000
1400

74615

59000

38919

18304
2134
195
10802
36
18,852
125
20
38
15977
6000
6220
280
563
1060
141
1260
9250
4576
75
3500
12406

50141971

NUMBER OF PRACTICING OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS* total number of practising occupational therapists is not known by this association, the number shown is the numberof occupational therapists in the member association** Non-WFOT Member Organisation in 2018

Collated 2017 © WFOT 2018

ARGENTINA
AUSTRALIA
AUSTRIABANGLADESHBELGIUM
BRAZIL
BULGARIA
CANADACHILECOLOMBIACZECH REPUBLIC
DENMARKESTONIAFINLANDFRANCEGERMANYGHANA
GREECEHAITI
HONG KONG
ICELAND
INDIA
INDONESIAIRAN
IRELANDISRAELITALYJAPANJORDANKENYAREPUBLIC OF KOREAKOSOVOLATVIA
LITHUANIA
MALAWI
MALAYSIAMALTA
MAURITIUS
MEXICO
MOROCCONETHERLANDSNEW ZEALANDNORWAYPAKISTANPALESTINEPHILIPPINESPORTUGALRUSSIARWANDASAUDI ARABIASINGAPORESLOVENIA
SOUTH AFRICASPAIN
SRI LANKASWEDENSWITZERLAND
TAIWANTANZANIATHAILAND
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
TURKEYUGANDA
UNITED KINGDOMUNITED STATES OF AMERICAZIMBABWE

814141121111411115263261131118618381211132944111213130145101715241125555131164235

NUMBER OF WFOT APPROVED EDUCATION PROGRAMMESCollated 2017 © WFOT 2018

1CYPRUS

21TAIWAN
TUNISIAUKRAINE

TURKEY

1SRI LANKA

SPAIN

SINGAPORESAUDI ARABIA

33ROMANIARUSSIA

3PORTUGAL

12PERUPHILIPPINES

1PANAMA

36544311113

PAKISTANNIGERIAMEXICOMALAYSIA

MADAGASCARLITHUANIAREPUBLIC OF KOREA

KENYAJAPANITALY

IRAN

INDONESIAINDIAGERMANYESTONIADOMINICAN REPUBLIC

431CROATIA

11COSTA RICACZECH REPUBLIC

22COLOMBIACHILEBRAZILARMENIA

ARGENTINA

911111116152227485660

NUMBER OF NON WFOT APPROVED EDUCATION PROGRAMMESCollated 2017 © WFOT 2018

ARGENTINAARMENIA
AUSTRALIA
AUSTRIABANGLADESHBELGIUM
BERMUDABRAZIL
BULGARIA
CANADACHILECOLOMBIACOSTA RICACROATIACYPRUSCZECH REPUBLIC
DENMARKDOMINICAN REPUBLICESTONIAFAROE ISLANDSFINLANDFRANCEGERMANYGHANA
GREECEHAITI
HONG KONG
ICELAND
INDIA
INDONESIAIRAN
IRELANDISRAELITALYJAPANJORDANKAZAKHSTANKENYAREPUBLIC OF KOREAKOSOVOLATVIA
LITHUANIALUXEMBOURG
MACAU
MADAGASCARMALAWI
MALAYSIA
MALTA
MAURITIUS
MEXICO
MOROCCONAMIBIANETHERLANDSNEW ZEALANDNIGERIANORWAYPAKISTANPALESTINE
PANAMAPERU
PHILIPPINESPORTUGALROMANIARUSSIARWANDASAUDIA ARABIASEYCHELLESSINGAPORESLOVENIA
SOUTH AFRICASPAIN
SRI LANKASWEDENSWITZERLAND
TAIWANTANZANIATHAILAND
TRINIDAD & TOBAGOTUNISIA
TURKEYUGANDAUKRAINE
UNITED KINGDOMUNITED STATES OF AMERICAZAMBIA
ZIMBABWE

2583040627268658080799610099981009790911009590949590959095929090858083809795909085807570708080758585808786989895969797979195949080858375707070706560606055505050646599909590

PERCENTAGE OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS IN WFOT MEMBER
ORGANISATIONS THAT ARE FEMALE

Collated 2017 © WFOT 2018

13GHANA202020100

MALTA
MAURITIUSNAMIBIANIGERIA241
TAIWAN

800UKRAINEUNITED STATES OF AMERICA

1009TURKEY

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

15670
SWEDENTHAILAND

584191004SOUTH AFRICA

SEYCHELLESSAUDIA ARABIAPANAMA

101LATVIA

PALESTINE

2KOSOVO

80022ESTONIAHONG KONG

606161000

DOMINICAN REPUBLICBERMUDABANGLADESH

AUSTRALIA57666

NUMBER OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY ASSISTANTS IN A MEMBER
ORGANISATION'S COUNTRY

Collated 2017 © WFOT 2018

COUNTRIES WHERE IT IS A REQUIREMENT FOR OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY ASSISTANTS TOATTAIN A QUALIFICATION TO PRACTISECollated 2017 © WFOT 2018

23019KOSOVONIGERIASEYCHELLESZAMBIAUNITED STATES OF AMERICAUNITED KINGDOMTHAILANDTAIWAN

252433IRELAND

SOUTH AFRICA

9GHANA55

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

130CANADAESTONIA

1BERMUDA4934597

NUMBER OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY ASSISTANTS
WHO ARE MEMBERS OF THEIR NATIONAL ASSOCIATION

Collated 2017 © WFOT 2018

COUNTRIES WHERE OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY IS RECOGNISED AS ASHORTAGE PROFESSION

Collated 2017 © WFOT 2018

SUMMARY
Information was collated from 86 WFOT Member Organisations (98% of those surveyed)
The numbers below reflect the responses provided to WFOT from countries that responded to this project andcollate this data.

Total number of practising occupational therapists = 527,997
Total number of WFOT Approved Education Programmes = 906
Total number of non WFOT Approved Education Programmes = 350
Number of occupational therapy students studying on WFOT Approved education programmes = 97,687
Number of occupational therapy assistants = 62,298
Average percentage of occupational therapists that are female = 87%

Collated 2017 © WFOT 2018

CAUTIONS
Not all organisations collate data that was requested for this project.
Missing data should not be interpreted as being not applicable; in some instances the information
is not known or unable to be provided.

The Human Resources Project was circulated in English and also in Spanish to Spanish speaking
countries.
All responses were requested in English and therefore reliant on accurate translations by Member
Organisations.
Each slide shows the responses that were received from each WFOT Member Organisation or theWFOT Delegate.
Figures shown may be approximate versus an exact number.
2017 population data sourced from www.indexmundi.com

Collated 2017 © WFOT 2018

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Please refer to the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) website www.wfot.org"Resource Centre" to access supporting documentation:
WFOT Position Statement - Recruiting Occupational Therapists from International Communities(2014)
Working as an occupational therapist in another country (2017)

Results from previous surveys are also available on the website

GRATEFUL THANKS TO ALL DELEGATES, ALTERNATES AND MEMBER ORGANISATIONSTHAT PARTICIPATED IN THIS IMPORTANT PROJECT

Collated 2017 © WFOT 2018