Table 5

Temporal changes in physician numbers for the four groups of secondary medical areas

Year	2000	2014	Increase rate (%)
Absolute number of physicians
Group 1	153 602	188 842	22.9
Group 2	26 367	28 331	7.4
Group 3	17 260	17 823	3.3
Group 4	45 972	61 849	34.5
Physicians per 100 000 raw population
Group 1	247.0	297.9	20.6
Group 2	194.2	225.6	16.2
Group 3	124.3	142.0	14.2
Group 4	126.2	163.0	29.1
Physicians per 100 000 demand-adjusted population
Group 1	309.3	305.1	−1.3
Group 2	211.5	202.1	−4.4
Group 3	137.4	127.0	−7.6
Group 4	165.8	171.6	3.5

Group 1: urban areas with higher initial physician supply, Group 2: rural areas with higher initial physician supply.
Group 3: rural areas with lower initial physician supply, Group 4: urban areas with lower initial physician supply.