Nurses in Ireland by country of training (2021–2025)
At the end of 2025, 41,951 of the 77,090 nurses and midwives practising in Ireland (54.4%) had their first nursing qualification from another country, most of them from India (20,568), the United Kingdom (9,486) and the Philippines (6,946) (Department of Health, Ireland, JQ06, updated 3 September 2026).
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.
Trained in Ireland and abroad, year by year
| Year | All | First qualified in Ireland | First qualified abroad | Share abroad |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of 2021 | 64,072 | 34,231 | 29,834 | 46.6% |
| End of 2022 | 67,808 | 34,533 | 33,270 | 49.1% |
| End of 2023 | 72,543 | 34,931 | 37,609 | 51.8% |
| End of 2024 | 76,558 | 35,216 | 41,341 | 54.0% |
| End of 2025 | 77,090 | 35,139 | 41,951 | 54.4% |
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.
Country of first qualification (2025)
30 countries with a published figure, then 65 countries marked "under 25": Ireland does not publish numbers under 25. The other 99 countries in the file have a published 0 at the end of 2025 and are not listed. "–" = no change can be worked out. Tap a column heading to sort.
| India | 20,568 | 19,642 | +4.7% |
| United Kingdom | 9,486 | 9,877 | −4.0% |
| Philippines | 6,946 | 6,866 | +1.2% |
| Zimbabwe | 718 | 712 | +0.8% |
| Nigeria | 676 | 653 | +3.5% |
| Romania | 481 | 499 | −3.6% |
| Poland | 441 | 457 | −3.5% |
| Ghana | 305 | 270 | +13.0% |
| Portugal | 242 | 252 | −4.0% |
| Spain | 212 | 226 | −6.2% |
| United States of America | 178 | 194 | −8.2% |
| Croatia | 167 | 192 | −13.0% |
| Italy | 151 | 165 | −8.5% |
| Australia | 131 | 128 | +2.3% |
| South Africa | 109 | 109 | 0.0% |
| Germany | 101 | 99 | +2.0% |
| Lithuania | 75 | 81 | −7.4% |
| Kenya | 60 | 45 | +33.3% |
| Finland | 60 | 58 | +3.4% |
| Pakistan | 57 | 44 | +29.5% |
| China (People’s Republic of) | 54 | 54 | 0.0% |
| Brazil | 50 | 42 | +19.0% |
| Canada | 46 | 47 | −2.1% |
| Hungary | 42 | 44 | −4.5% |
| New Zealand | 35 | 39 | −10.3% |
| Nepal | 29 | 29 | 0.0% |
| Zambia | 28 | 26 | +7.7% |
| Greece | 28 | 29 | −3.4% |
| Netherlands | 27 | 29 | −6.9% |
| France | 26 | 28 | −7.1% |
| Albania | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Algeria | under 25 | 0 | – |
| Argentina | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Austria | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Bahrain | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Bangladesh | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Barbados | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Belarus | under 25 | 0 | – |
| Belgium | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Botswana | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Bulgaria | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Cameroon | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Chile | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Costa Rica | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Cyprus | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Czech Republic | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Denmark | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Egypt | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Estonia | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Eswatini | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Gambia | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Indonesia | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Iran | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Israel | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Jamaica | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Japan | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Jordan | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Kuwait | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Latvia | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Lebanon | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Lesotho | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Malawi | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Malaysia | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Malta | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Mauritius | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Mexico | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Myanmar | under 25 | 0 | – |
| Namibia | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Nicaragua | under 25 | 0 | – |
| Norway | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Oman | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Peru | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Qatar | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Republic of Korea | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Republic of Moldova | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Russian Federation | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Saint Lucia | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Saudi Arabia | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Serbia | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Singapore | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Slovak Republic | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Slovenia | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Sri Lanka | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Sudan | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Sweden | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Switzerland | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Taiwan/Chinese Taipei | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Thailand | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Trinidad and Tobago | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Turkey | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Uganda | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| Ukraine | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| United Arab Emirates | under 25 | under 25 | – |
| United Republic of Tanzania | under 25 | under 25 | – |
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.
What these numbers are, and what they are not
- They are nurses (and midwives) on the NMBI register who said they were practising in Ireland at the end of the year, by the country where they obtained their first nursing qualification.
- They are not nationalities: an Indian national who first qualified in the UK counts under the United Kingdom.
- Ireland publishes no figure under 25 for a country: those countries are shown as "under 25".
Questions people ask
How many nurses are there in Ireland?
77,090 nurses and midwives registered with the NMBI said they practised in Ireland at the end of 2025; 41,951 (54.4%) first qualified abroad.
How many nurses who trained in India are in Ireland?
20,568 nurses practising in Ireland at the end of 2025 had their first nursing qualification from India (19,642 a year earlier). This counts training, not nationality.
How many nurses who trained in the Philippines are in Ireland?
6,946 nurses practising in Ireland at the end of 2025 first qualified in the Philippines (6,866 a year earlier). This counts training, not nationality.
How many nurses who trained in Nigeria are in Ireland?
676 nurses practising in Ireland at the end of 2025 first qualified in Nigeria (653 a year earlier). This counts training, not nationality.