Number of nurses in the United Kingdom 2021

In 2021, there were approximately 506 thousand nurses in employment in the United Kingdom (UK). This is a large decrease from 2020 when there were around 670 thousand nurses.

Trends among other healthcare personnel in the UK 

The number of medical practitioners employed in the UK amounted to approximately 339 thousand in 2021. This is an increase from the 236 thousand practitioners in 2010. The number of midwives in the UK amounted to 57.6 thousand in 2021, but has been slightly declining in numbers since 2013.

Impact of Brexit

Since the UK made the decision to leave the European Union, the number of new nurses and midwives from the EEA has significantly decreased. In the year 2018/19, the number of new registrants from the EEA was less than one thousand, while almost 9.4 thousand joined from the EEA in 2015/16, which was before the referendum concerning the EU membership. 

Annual number of nurses in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2010 to 2021 (in 1,000)

Characteristic	Number of nurses in thousands
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Release date

August 2022

More information

Region

United Kingdom

Survey time period

2010 to 2021

Special properties

UK households

Supplementary notes

Numbers rounded to the nearest thousand.

Annual population survey data relating to employees and self-employed health professionals by occupation group (based on Standard Occupation Classification 2010, code 2231).

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