How much do doctors earn in France?
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Doctors are the highest-paid ‘liberal’ (self-employed) professions in France, a new study reveals, although there are wide variances depending on specialty and experience.
The average salary (before income tax) of a self-employed doctor in France rose by an average of 0.6% per year between 2017 and 2021, to reach €124,000 annually. The information for 2021 is
the most up-to-date and detailed available on salaries in the sector.
The annual rise of 0.6% is significantly lower than the 1.9% average annual increase between 2014 and 2017, states Drees, an official French statistics body that published the study.
Slow wage growth was caused in part by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, with less people seeking non-Covid-related medical treatment and higher inflation impacting income levels.
Despite a reduction in annual income increases, self-employed doctors still earned on average over €20,000 more than the nearest self-employed profession (legal advisors and accountants for
businesses, who earned €102,500 annually on average in 2021).
However there were large differences between the occupations self-employed doctors can hold.
For example, GPs earned on average €98,300 in 2021, as did allergists and emergency physicians.
At the same time, a radiotherapist earned on average €417,000, a nuclear medicine specialist €283,000, and a radiologist €217,000.
Others including cardiologists (€163,000) and ophthalmologists (€191,900) earned significantly more.
Paediatricians, at the bottom of the earnings scale, had an average income of €88,400.
The average figure of €124,000 is a result of there being more practitioners in the ‘lower’ paying fields than in the high-paying fields.
In addition, there were variations depending on how long a doctor had been practising.
Those working in the sector for less than ten years saw average earnings fall by 2.8% during the years studied, whereas doctors with 10 - 30 years of experience saw an increase of 2.9%
(those with more than 30 years experience saw an average increase of 2.3%).