Overseas nurse recruitment falls for first time in six years

The number of professionals on the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register has reached a record high, but a ‘significant slowdown’ in international recruitment means the rate of growth has decelerated, new data reveals.

International recruitment between April 2024 and March 2025 has fallen by almost a third (30.2%) – ending the ending the upward trend in international recruitment seen over the past six years.

And while the number of UK-educated professionals joining the register has grown by 5.9%, the NMC warned this was not enough to offset the fall in international recruitment.

The regulator’s annual registration report shows there are now 853,707 NMC registrants – representing 2% of the entire working age population.

Changing registration trends

Between April 2024 and March 2025, the register grew by just 3.3%, down from 4.8% during the same period in the year before.

The NMC has said the rate of growth has slowed largely due to a fall in international recruitment.

The data reveals that just under a third (30.2%) fewer professionals who were educated outside the UK joined the NMC register for the first time in the past year, with 20,671 such professionals joining overall.

The slowdown has been seen across nations, said the NMC, with 47.6% fewer nurses from the Philippines and 36.7% fewer nurses from India joining in the last 12 months.

There was also a 25.5% fall in recruitment from red-list country Nigeria.

Related Article: Poor health driving nurses away, finds NMC

The number of internationally educated professionals joining the NMC register had been rising steadily since 2018/19, with an exception during the pandemic in 2020/21.

Today the NMC warned that recent changes to visa rules ‘may have played a part’, as well as a stronger focus from the government in England to recruit people locally.

The opportunity to earn more in other countries was another potential reason why international recruitment is faltering, the NMC added.

Royal College of Nursing (RCN) chief nursing officer Lynn Wolsey criticised the government for its ‘unethical’ approach to stopping international recruitment.

It was announced last month that the government plans to ban the recruitment of care workers from overseas.

This came after the government last year banned direct care workers arriving from overseas from bringing dependents on their Health and Care Worker visa.

Ms Wolsey warned that the government’s ‘boom and bust approach’ to international recruitment ‘must end’ and stressed that ‘a strategy that boosts domestic supply and delivers fair treatment for international staff is what’s needed’.

‘We warned the government that hostile immigration policies and poor pay were driving international staff away and at a time when we couldn’t afford to lose a single nurse,’ she added.

She added that the ‘slowing growth of the UK-trained workforce isn’t coming close to offsetting the number of international recruits leaving’.

‘With tens of thousands of vacancies in the NHS and social care this will be a worrying time for patients,’ said Ms Wolsey.

Domestic growth ‘not enough’

In total, there are now 647,690 UK-educated professionals on the register – an increase of 11,489 (1.8%) since 31 March 2024.

And some 32,163 UK professionals joined the NMC register in the 12 months to March 2025.

While this was a 5.9% growth on the year before, the rate was slower than in 2023/24 when this grew by 11.9%.

The NMC warned that the number of UK-educated professionals joining the register had grown at a ‘slower rate and not by enough to offset the fall in international recruitment – hence the overall register has grown more slowly over the past year’.

Professionals are leaving the register

In total, 28,789 people also left the NMC register in the year to March 2025, equalling 3.5% of the register compared to 3.4% the previous year.

Some 5,276 international professionals left the register in the last year – a third more than in the previous 12 months.

In the context of a growing register, this means that 2.7% of the international cohort left in 2024/25, compared to 2.4% in the previous year.

Rohit Sagoo, founder of the British Sikh Nurses Association and Queen’s Nurse, said England was becoming a ‘stop gap’ for international nurses looking to move to other countries like Australia.

He added that the ‘financial burden’ of visa applications also discourages international nurses from moving to the UK, alongside the discrimination they can face.

‘In social care, you’ve got a pipeline of nurses that are being exploited and facing completely unethical practices, so that slows down the track of applications because of a massive cohort of concerns,’ he said.

The NMC’s perspective

Interim chief executive and registrar at the NMC, Paul Rees, said the slowdown in international nurses and midwives joining the register represents a ‘significant shift’ from recent years.

‘Even with this change, our register is still growing – and it’s becoming more diverse. That’s a real strength.

‘It also means we must make sure everyone can work in an environment that values diversity and tackles racism,’ he added.

Mr Rees said the NMC had a ‘responsibility’ to treat all registrants equally, stressing the organisation’s commitment to ‘eliminate bias’ from its regulatory processes.

At the RCN Congress in May, nurses warned of the ‘incredibly miserable’ consequences of the government’s plans to ban the recruitment of care workers from overseas.

In December, figures showed a 65% annual drop in visa grants when compared with data from 2023.

The Department for Health and Social Care has been contacted for comment.