Number of nurses in the UK 2010-2020

In 2020 there were approximately 669.6 thousand nurses in employment in the United Kingdom (UK). This is a large increase from 2010 when there were around 541 thousand nurses.

Trends among other healthcare personnel in the UK 

The number of medical practitioners employed in the UK amounted to approximately 290 thousand in 2019. This is an increase from the 236 thousand practitioners in 2010, which shows that it follows a similar pattern to the number of nurses. The number of midwives in the UK amounted to 31.5 thousand in 2018, 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.