Nurses trained abroad in the UK and Ireland, by country (2026)
On 31 March 2026, 212,109 of the 867,935 people on the UK's NMC register (24.4%) trained outside the UK, most of them in India (73,026), the Philippines (50,527) and Nigeria (17,092) (NMC register data, file dated 28 July 2026); in Ireland, 41,951 of 77,090 practising nurses at the end of 2025 (54.4%) first qualified abroad (Department of Health, JQ06, updated 3 September 2026).
UK register · trained abroad · 31 March 2026: 212,109 of 867,935
Source: NMC, register data tables, March 2026 (UK) (XLSX, file dated 28 July 2026, downloaded on 5 November 2026), sheets "Training Country ALL" and "Training Country Joiners". The register includes nurses, midwives and nursing associates. Data: NMC register data tables (© NMC), reproduced as factual information with a link to the original file; this is not an NMC publication.
Statistics, not advice. These are official counts for past dates. Registration is decided by the NMC (UK) and the NMBI (Ireland), visas by the Home Office, and the rules on international recruitment can change: check the official pages before you apply or pay.
The 12 biggest countries of training outside the UK and the EU
Countries outside the UK, the EU and the EEA with at least 1,000 people on the NMC register on 31 March 2026, except Australia (1,607): it also passes the threshold but is not in this first set of pages. "UK code" = grade in the UK code of practice for international recruitment. Tap a column heading to sort.
| UK code | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| India | 73,026 | 70,186 | 1,748 | 3,399 | 20,568 | 14,589 | green (agreement) |
| Philippines | 50,527 | 50,485 | 337 | 758 | 6,946 | 2,350 | green (agreement) |
| Nigeria | 17,092 | 15,760 | 683 | 1,074 | 676 | 7,712 | red |
| Ghana | 8,531 | 7,254 | 612 | 927 | 305 | 2,678 | red |
| Zimbabwe | 4,798 | 4,731 | 55 | 74 | 718 | 4,153 | red |
| Nepal | 3,087 | 2,595 | 248 | 311 | 29 | 561 | amber |
| South Africa | 2,836 | 2,965 | 8 | 35 | 109 | 394 | green |
| Kenya | 2,585 | 2,536 | 38 | 89 | 60 | 868 | amber |
| Pakistan | 1,838 | 1,701 | 77 | 119 | 57 | 4,282 | red |
| Zambia | 1,649 | 1,621 | 27 | 70 | 28 | 389 | red |
| Sri Lanka | 1,384 | 1,008 | 175 | 260 | under 25 | 1,200 | green (agreement) |
| Jamaica | 1,300 | 1,339 | 5 | 15 | under 25 | 107 | green |
Source: NMC, register data tables, March 2026 (UK) (XLSX, file dated 28 July 2026, downloaded on 5 November 2026), sheets "Training Country ALL" and "Training Country Joiners". The register includes nurses, midwives and nursing associates. Data: NMC register data tables (© NMC), reproduced as factual information with a link to the original file; this is not an NMC publication.
Source: Department of Health (Ireland), JQ06 – Stock of nurses by country of first qualification (CSV, dataset updated 3 September 2026, downloaded on 5 November 2026). Compiled from the annual registrations with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI); includes midwives; values under 25 are not published. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Source: Home Office, Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes detailed datasets, year ending June 2026 (XLSX, published 27 August 2026, downloaded on 15 October 2026; next update 26 November 2026), sheet Data_Vis_D02, visa type "Health and Care Worker", by nationality and year of decision. Figures from 2026 are provisional. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
What these numbers are, and what they are not
- UK register: people on the NMC register (nurses, midwives and nursing associates) by country of training. It counts where people trained, not their nationality: a Nigerian nurse who trained in the UK counts as UK-trained. Being on the register does not mean working in the UK.
- Ireland: nurses (and midwives) registered with the NMBI who said they practise in Ireland, by the country of their first nursing qualification, at the end of each year.
- Health and Care Worker visas: visas applied for from outside the UK, counted by nationality, for every job on this route, plus family members. The Home Office file does not say how many went to nurses, and it leaves out people who switched visa inside the UK.
- Red list: it applies to employers in England (code of practice for England). The code says: “The rules on active recruitment and direct applications are based on the country where an individual is residing when they apply for a health or social care job, rather than the nationality of the individual or their original country of training.”
- The three counts measure different things and do not add up.
Pages in this section
Questions people ask
How many nurses in Ireland trained abroad?
41,951 of the 77,090 nurses practising in Ireland at the end of 2025 (54.4%) had their first nursing qualification from another country (Department of Health, JQ06).
How many foreign-trained nurses are in the UK?
212,109 of the 867,935 people on the NMC register on 31 March 2026 (24.4%) trained outside the UK, 186,681 of them outside the EU and EEA (including 4,455 with unknown training country).
Are fewer international nurses joining the UK register?
Yes, by these figures: 4,640 people trained outside the UK joined the register for the first time in the six months to 31 March 2026, against 8,136 a year earlier and 15,035 at the peak of the series.
How much does NMC registration cost for nurses trained abroad?
£1,226 in fees and tests from 1 October 2026: £167 qualification evaluation, £83 CBT, £794 OSCE and £182 registration fee, more if you resit a test (NMC).
UK visa refusal rates by nationality · Who moved where · UK visa English tests