The average income of private doctors increased by 0.6% per year (excluding inflation) between 2017 and 2021 to reach 124,000 euros, or 10,000 euros per month, according to Drees, the statistical department of the social ministries.
This income is understood after charges and before income tax.
Doctors remain at the top of the income scale for all liberal professions, above for example the second best paid sector, legal and accounting services to businesses (102,500 euros average annual income), indicates the Drees in a study published Friday.
But the remuneration gains for private doctors between 2017 and 2021 were less significant than between 2014 and 2017 (+1.9%).
A slowdown which can “probably” be explained by the Covid pandemic, which caused a drop in activity among private doctors, and slightly higher inflation over the period, according to Drees.
Furthermore, the remuneration of private doctors hides clear disparities, depending on the specialty or the number of years of establishment.
General practitioners and other general practitioners (allergists, geriatricians, emergency physicians) had an average earned income of 98,300 euros in 2021, an annual increase of 0.7% on average since 2017.
The other specialists for their part recorded an average activity income of 153,300 euros in 2021, a slight erosion (-0.1% per year on average over the period 2017-2021).
"Among the highest average annual incomes, those of radiotherapists (417,500 euros), nuclear medicine physicians (283,300 euros) and radiologists (212,700 euros) particularly stand out," notes the Drees.
"On the other hand, the average income of psychiatrists and neuropsychiatrists is 92,800 euros, that of rheumatologists 92,200 euros and pediatricians 88,400 euros," she notes.
DREES statistics also show that the health crisis has particularly affected doctors who have been in practice for less than 10 years.
A doctor established for less than 10 years had an income that fell by 2.8% per year on average over the period, while that of his counterpart established for 10 to 29 years increased by an average of 2.9% per year (2.3% for a doctor established for 30 years or more).
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