The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there is a global healthcare workforce shortage of 7.2 million, which is predicted to grow to 12.9 million by 2035. Globally, people are living longer with multiple co-morbidities and require increased access and use of medicines. Pharmacists are a key component of the healthcare workforce, and in many countries, pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare profession. This paper identifies key issues and current trends affecting the global pharmacy workforce, in particular workforce distribution, country economic status, capacity, and workforce gender balance. National professional pharmacy leadership bodies, together with other contacts for professional bodies, regulatory bodies, and universities, were approached to provide country-level data on pharmacy workforce. A descriptive and comparative analysis was conducted to assess each country’s pharmacy workforce. A total of 89 countries and territories responded to the survey. To standardise the capacity measure, an analysis of the population density of pharmacists (per 10 000 population) was performed. The sample mean was 6 pharmacists per 10 000 population (n = 80). There is considerable variation between the surveyed countries/territories ranging from 0.02 (Somalia) to 25.07 (Malta) pharmacists per 10 000 population. African nations have significantly fewer pharmacists per capita. Pharmacist density correlates with gross national income (GNI) and health expenditure. The majority of pharmacists are employed in community settings, followed by hospital, industry-related, academia, and regulation. There is a greater proportion of females in the pharmacy workforce globally, with some WHO regions showing female representation of more than 65 % with an increasing trend trajectory. Pharmacy workforce capacity varies considerably between countries and regions and generally correlates with population- and country-level economic indicators. Those countries and territories with lower economic indicators tend to have fewer pharmacists and pharmacy technicians; this has implications for inequalities regarding access to medicines and medicine expertise.

Pharmacists' roles are evolving from that of compounders and dispensers of medicines to that of experts on medicines within multidisciplinary health care teams. In the developing country context, the pharmacy is often the most accessible or even the sole point of access to health care advice and services.

Pharmacists are critical for attaining the goal of universal health coverage and equitable access to essential health services, particularly in relation to access to medicines and medicines expertise. We describe an analysis of the pharmacy workforce in Nigeria from 2011 to 2016 in order to gain insight on capacity and to inform pharmacy workforce planning and policy development in the country. The study was conducted using census data obtained from the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) via a validated data collection tool. The statistical methods used for analysis were descriptive (frequencies, percentages, mean) and linear regression. Secondary data on population distribution per state was obtained from the Federal Bureau of Statistics and the National Population Commission (NPC) of Nigeria. The data showed 21,892 registered pharmacists with only 59% (n = 12,807) in active professional practice. There are also more male (62%) compared to female pharmacists while 42% of the licensed workforce with known area of practice are in community practice followed by hospital pharmacy (11%). A rise in number of pharmacists (0.53–0.66) and new pharmacy graduates per year (0.062–0.083) per 10,000 population was observed over the five years analysed; however the overall density remains significantly low. Pharmacists’ density also varied considerably between states (Median = 0.39; Min - Max: 0.05–4.3). Regionally, more than a third (~ 40%) of the licensed workforce and community pharmacies are situated in the South West region with fewer than 10% of the total in the North East and North West regions combined. A steady decline in number of pharmacists requesting a “letter of good standing” from PCN, a proxy measure of intent to migrate was also observed. The data indicate ongoing deficits in availability and supply of pharmacists in the country with widespread variance in distribution observed across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The findings suggest that observed deficits are not solely related to out-migration and highlights the need for policies that will promote increased within-country availability, equitable distribution and retention, especially in the underserved regions of North East and North West of Nigeria.

Human resources for health are at a critical low. The World Health Organization estimates that the current shortage of health workers, including pharmacists, is in excess of 7.2 million worldwide and that, by 2035, the shortage will reach 12.9 million. Pharmacists, in particular, are lacking in the workforce in many countries. The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) and academic partners have conducted periodic global pharmacy workforce surveys in 2006, 2009 and 2012 which have monitored and reported on the status of the pharmacy workforce at the country and territory levels. This current analysis is a synthesis of workforce capacity data from these date points to provide an overview of the global trends and changes to pharmacy workforce capacity over this time period. The methodology proceeded with accessing workforce capacity data collated in 2006, 2009 and 2012 held on file at the FIP Collaborating Centre. This data had previously been validated and made available to WHO Human Resources for Health. The data focused (due to limitations from 2006 databank) on pharmacist workforce capacity. Countries and territories were identified that had data available across at least two of the three time points (2006, 2009 and 2012). Missing time-point data for some countries (data gaps) were subject, where possible, to literature and online data searching to capture possible missing data. Country-level capacity data were plotted against time to identify trends coupled with comparative analysis of the trends. The countries and territories identified as having valid data for each of the time points 2006, 2009 and 2012 were present in all WHO regions, with Europe having the most countries with data available and South East Asia the fewest. All WHO regions have experienced an increase in the density of pharmacists (measured as number of pharmacists per 10 000 population) over the period 2006–2012. However, some countries show a reduction in the density of pharmacists. African countries show large relative increases in acceleration of capacity building but remain significantly behind in terms of absolute capacity per capita. South East Asian and Middle Eastern countries also show large proportional changes in pharmacist workforce. The global trend is an increase in workforce across all nations and regions, and this is a move in the right direction towards improved access to, and availability of, pharmaceutical expertise. However, there is still much to be done, with some regions and low-income countries still displaying a disproportionately low number of pharmacists on small overall capacity for delivering pharmacy services.