Turkey medical tourism statistics
The key numbers on medical travel to Turkey, every figure from an official source: how many patients it treats, how much it earns, what they come for, and whether the health system has the capacity. Turkey has become one of the world’s largest medical-tourism destinations in under a decade.
Turkey is now one of the largest medical-tourism destinations in the world. The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) counts how many people visit for health or medical reasons each year and how much they spend. Both climbed steeply through the late 2010s, dipped during the pandemic, and recovered to record highs. In 2024, health accounted for 2.4% of all visitors and 5.0% of Turkey’s tourism income.
These are all-health-tourism figures, covering hair transplants, dental work, eye surgery, cosmetic surgery and more. For the cosmetic side in detail, the most common procedures and which countries patients travel from, see our cosmetic surgery tourism statistics. A high volume reflects demand and reputation, not how any individual treatment turns out, and the great majority of patients travel and return without incident.
Turkey’s health-tourism patients per year
People visiting Turkey for health or medical reasons. Official TÜİK figures, 2019 to 2025.
Turkey received about 1.4 million health-tourism patients in 2025, its latest full year, down slightly from a record 1,506,442 in 2024. The count has risen roughly sixfold since 2012, when it was around 265,000, with a pandemic dip to 435,691 in 2020.
Turkey’s health-tourism revenue per year
Revenue in US dollars. Official TÜİK figures, 2019 to 2025.
Turkey earned about $3 billion from health tourism in 2025, level with 2024’s record and more than double the $1.5 billion it made in 2019. That is 5.0% of the country’s total tourism income.
Revenue per health tourist
Our analysis: TÜİK revenue divided by TÜİK patient numbers, per year. 2019 to 2025.
Turkey earned about $2,160 per health tourist in 2025, up from roughly $1,600 in 2022, when patient numbers climbed faster than revenue. The figure has held near $2,000 in normal years. The 2020 reading of about $3,150 reflects far fewer patients during the pandemic, not higher prices.
Turkey’s health-system capacity
How much hospital capacity sits behind the sector. Official TÜİK figures, 2024.
| Measure | Turkey | OECD average |
|---|---|---|
| Hospital beds per 1,000 | 3.1 | 4.2 |
| Doctors per 1,000 | 2.4 | 3.9 |
| Nurses per 1,000 | 2.9 | 9.2 |
| Health spending per capita (USD PPP) | 2309 | 5967 |
| Health spending, % of GDP | 4.7 | 9.3 |
Turkey has 1,562 hospitals, 552 of them private, and 268,359 hospital beds, or 3.1 per 1,000 people, just below the OECD average of 4.2. It employs 221,133 physicians, 50,434 dentists and 264,857 nurses. The system is large but lean, below the OECD on doctors per person and spending far less per head on health, which is part of why treatment costs less than in Western Europe or the US.
Is treatment in Turkey cheaper?
Cost is the main reason people travel, and treatment in Turkey is widely reported to cost far less than private care in Western Europe or the US. We do not quote an overall percentage, because no neutral, verifiable source measures it, reliable per-procedure prices come only from clinics selling the treatment. The one peer-reviewed cost comparison is for IVF: a study in BMC Health Services Research found treatment in Turkey about 31% cheaper overall than in the United States, and 54% cheaper per successful pregnancy.
How to read these figures
Every number here comes from a primary official source, read directly: TÜİK for the patient, revenue and capacity figures; ISAPS for the cosmetic-procedure counts; the OECD for the comparison. We do not use clinic or booking-site figures. Turkey’s health-tourism totals cover all treatment types together and are best read as authoritative estimates of scale.
A high volume reflects demand, not outcomes. It says nothing about how any individual treatment goes. If you travelled to Turkey for treatment and are now dealing with a problem back home, our guide to cosmetic surgery malpractice in Turkey explains what your options are.
Common questions
How many medical tourists does Turkey get a year?
Turkey received about 1.4 million medical tourists in 2025, its latest full year, down from a record of 1,506,442 in 2024, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK). Health made up about 2.4% of all visitors to the country.
How much money does Turkey make from health tourism?
Turkey earned about $3 billion from health tourism in 2025, level with its 2024 record, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK). That is 5.0% of its total tourism income, or roughly $2,000 per patient.
How fast is Turkey's health tourism growing?
Turkey's health tourism grew roughly sixfold in a decade, from about 265,000 patients in 2012 to over 1.5 million in 2024, according to TÜİK, with a dip to 435,691 during the pandemic in 2020.
What cosmetic procedures are most popular in Turkey?
The most common cosmetic operations in Turkey are rhinoplasty (about 61,000 in 2024), eyelid surgery and liposuction, according to the ISAPS global survey, while botulinum toxin and fillers lead non-surgical treatments. Turkey performs about 1.1 million cosmetic procedures a year.
Where do medical tourists to Turkey come from?
For cosmetic surgery, about 29.6% of Turkey's patients travel from abroad, most often from Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, according to the ISAPS survey. Turkey does not publish an official all-treatment breakdown by nationality.
Does Turkey have enough hospital capacity for medical tourism?
Turkey has 1,562 hospitals (552 private) and 268,359 hospital beds in 2024, or 3.1 per 1,000 people, close to the OECD average of 4.2, according to TÜİK and the OECD. It has 2.4 practising doctors per 1,000, below the OECD average of 3.9.
Is medical treatment cheaper in Turkey?
Treatment in Turkey is widely reported to cost far less than private care in Western Europe or the US, though no neutral source publishes a reliable overall percentage. The one peer-reviewed comparison, for IVF, found Turkey about 31% cheaper overall than the United States.
Cite this data
SourcesTÜİK (patients, revenue, capacity)ISAPS 2024 (cosmetic procedures)OECD Health at a Glance 2025