Hospital average length of stay by diagnostic categories by country
Average length of stay (ALOS) is calculated by dividing the number of bed-days by the number of discharges during the year. The list of diagnostic categories is based on the International Shortlist for Hospital Morbidity Tabulation (ISHMT). Click here to see the complete shortlist with ICD-10 and ICD-9 codes....
What the numbers show
Hospital average length of stay by diagnostic categories is currently reported for 40 countries. The highest value is 9.5 Days in Hungary; the lowest is 4.7 Days in Mexico.
The median across all reporting countries is 6.7 Days, and the mean is 6.88 Days.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 2.
Over the past decade 16 countries rose and 19 fell. The largest increase was in France (up 60.7%), and the largest decrease in Finland (down 28.6%).
Hospital average length of stay by diagnostic categories: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hungary | 9.5 Days | 2024 | unchanged | rising |
| 1 | Latvia | 8.8 Days | 2024 | up 11.4% | rising |
| 2 | Czechia | 9.1 Days | 2022 | unchanged | falling |
| 2 | Croatia | 8.3 Days | 2024 | down 2.4% | flat |
| 2 | Estonia | 8.3 Days | 2024 | up 12.2% | flat |
| 3 | Germany | 9 Days | 2024 | unchanged | falling |
| 3 | France | 9 Days | 2024 | up 60.7% | rising |
| 3 | Lithuania | 8 Days | 2024 | up 6.7% | rising |
| 4 | Slovenia | 6.6 Days | 2023 | down 2.9% | falling |
| 5 | Portugal | 8.6 Days | 2023 | up 14.7% | rising |
| 5 | Poland | 6.5 Days | 2024 | down 5.8% | falling |
| 6 | Austria | 8.3 Days | 2024 | up 1.2% | falling |
| 6 | Colombia | 8.3 Days | 2024 | down 11.7% | flat |
| 6 | Netherlands | 4.4 Days | 2023 | down 8.3% | falling |
| 7 | Türkiye | 4.2 Days | 2018 | up 2.4% | falling |
| 8 | Italy | 8.2 Days | 2024 | up 5.1% | falling |
| 9 | Switzerland | 8.1 Days | 2024 | down 6.9% | falling |
| 10 | Canada | 8 Days | 2024 | up 14.3% | falling |
| 11 | Spain | 7.9 Days | 2024 | up 19.7% | falling |
| 12 | Finland | 7.5 Days | 2024 | down 28.6% | falling |
| 13 | Luxembourg | 7.3 Days | 2024 | down 16.1% | flat |
| 14 | United Kingdom | 7.2 Days | 2024 | up 4.3% | falling |
| 15 | Malta | 6.9 Days | 2023 | down 6.8% | falling |
| 16 | Romania | 6.8 Days | 2024 | down 6.8% | falling |
| 17 | Iceland | 6.6 Days | 2024 | up 8.2% | rising |
| 18 | Costa Rica | 6.3 Days | 2025 | unchanged | flat |
| 19 | New Zealand | 6.2 Days | 2023 | down 24.4% | falling |
| 20 | Israel | 6.1 Days | 2024 | down 3.2% | falling |
| 20 | Chile | 6.1 Days | 2024 | up 7.0% | rising |
| 22 | Ireland | 6 Days | 2024 | up 7.1% | falling |
| 23 | Greece | 5.8 Days | 2023 | down 27.5% | falling |
| 24 | Belgium | 5.7 Days | 2024 | down 12.3% | falling |
| 25 | Australia | 5.6 Days | 2024 | up 3.7% | falling |
| 26 | Denmark | 5.4 Days | 2023 | down 3.6% | falling |
| 27 | Cyprus | 5.3 Days | 2023 | down 13.1% | falling |
| 27 | Norway | 5.3 Days | 2023 | down 5.4% | falling |
| 29 | Sweden | 5.2 Days | 2024 | down 7.1% | falling |
| 29 | Bulgaria | 5.2 Days | 2023 | unchanged | flat |
| 31 | United States | 4.8 Days | 2010 | down 2.0% | falling |
| 32 | Mexico | 4.7 Days | 2024 | up 14.6% | rising |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- Korea 17.9 Days
- Slovak Republic 7.1 Days
About this data
Average length of stay (ALOS) is calculated by dividing the number of bed-days by the number of discharges during the year. The list of diagnostic categories is based on the International Shortlist for Hospital Morbidity Tabulation (ISHMT). Click here to see the complete shortlist with ICD-10 and ICD-9 codes. Please refer to the Sources and Methods for detailed country-specific information.