International recruitment to the UK's nursing and midwifery register has nearly halved since its 2023-2024 peak, according to the Nursing and Midwifery Council's (NMC's) latest annual snapshot of the register. Just 26.4% of new joiners in 2025-2026 were educated abroad, down from 39.1% the previous year and a peak of 49.4% 2 years ago.

Nursing organisations have warned of a shortfall of nurses against current demand, blamed in part for a “corridor care crisis”, difficulties accessing care in the community, and overwhelmed mental health services — a backdrop against which the slowdown in international recruitment lands.

The overall Register reached a new high of 867,935 professionals — about 1 in 50 people in employment in the UK. However, the overall pace of growth had roughly halved, from 3.3% the previous year to 1.7% this year. The NMC said the slower growth was mainly due to a significant fall in the number of people joining the register, down 21.4% on the previous year, accompanied by a modest increase in those leaving, up 5.3% over the same period.

Which Countries Do International Nurses Come From? 

The NMC figures showed that the largest source of international joiners, as in past years, was India, but even this had dropped considerably, at 4215 new entrants this year, a 54.4% fall on the previous year's 9249. Nigeria was the second largest source, with 1614 joiners, a fall of 31.7%.

In addition, Ghana replaced the Philippines as the third largest international joiner source, its 1391 additions this year still representing a 22% decrease compared with the previous year.

The NMC pointed out that two of the three largest sources of international joiners to the UK’s nursing and midwifery workforce — Nigeria and Ghana — are ‘red list’ countries, where the UK government’s ethical code prohibits active recruitment.

Emma Westcott, executive director of strategy and insight at the NMC, said: “While professionals from across the world want to come and work in UK health and care, and we welcome their contribution, we don’t want to undermine health systems in countries with the biggest workforce challenges.”

Register Also More Ethnically Diverse 

Overall, more than a third of the workforce — 293,778 professionals, or 33.8% — are now from Black, Asian, and ethnic minority backgrounds, the highest proportion on record, according to the NMC.

UK-educated new joiners are also becoming more ethnically diverse: 35% of last year's UK joiners were from this group, 12.7 percentage points higher than in the year to March 2021 (22.3%).

Overall, the NMC report said, the nursing and midwifery workforce is “larger and more diverse than ever”. However, growth is slowing, and “future supply cannot be taken for granted”.

The register lists nursing and midwifery professionals eligible to practise in the UK, working across the NHS, social care, the secure estate, local authorities, schools, national organisations, and higher education. Since 2019, it has also included the nursing associate role in England.

Midwives Outpace Nurses 

The number of midwives rose by 4.2%, down from 5.6% in the previous year. This was driven by a 10.8% decline in new midwife joiners in 2026 compared with 2025. In contrast, the number of registered nurses grew by just 1.4%, with fewer nurse joiners in the year to March 2026 than during the previous year.

The total number who left the NMC register in the year to March 2026 was 30,323, a 5.3% increase compared to the previous year. A separate annual leavers survey by the NMC showed that the top reason for leaving the register was retirement, with a year-on-year increase of around 2%-3% in the number of retirees. This was followed by physical or mental health, and burnout or exhaustion.

Nursing Shortages Need Fixing 

A Royal College of Nursing (RCN) employment survey in November 2025 estimated there were more than 25,000 NHS nursing vacancies in England.

Earlier this month, the RCN urged new Health Secretary Yvette Cooper to prioritise nursing pay and workforce shortages. Professor Nicola Ranger, RCN general secretary and chief executive, said that nurses' pay had been “neglected for decades”. Reform was needed “to get the NHS back on track and fix adult social care”, she said.

Dr Sheena Meredith is an established medical writer, editor, and consultant in healthcare communications, with extensive experience writing for medical professionals and the general public. She is qualified in medicine and in law and medical ethics.