Number of specialist doctors in the UK in 2024, by specialty
In 2022, with nearly 27 percent, the most common specialty of specialist doctors in the United Kingdom was medicine. A further 17.6 percent of specialists specialized in surgery and 12.9 percent of specialists were specialized in anesthetics and intensive care medicine.
Age breakdown of doctors
In the UK, the age group with the highest number of doctors is among 30 to 34 with nearly 60 thousand, followed by 58 thousand registered doctors aged 35 to 39 years. There are almost 14 thousand over 70s in the UK who continue to be registered doctors.
Diverse composition of health workforce
In 2022, 8.5 percent of licensed doctors in the UK graduated from the European Economic Area (EEA). The share of EEA graduates in the UK doctor’s workforce has been decreasing since 2014, when English language requirements of doctors was tightened. Furthermore, 13 percent of specialist in the UK received their primary medical qualification in the EEA, the highest share of EEA graduates among all doctors.
