Number of medical practitioners in the UK 2010-2023
Patterns of employment in the UK health sector
The number of health professionals overall in the UK stood at 1.68 million in 2023, also a large increase in the number of workers from 2010. The number of nurses in the UK has also been increasing since 2010, amounting to 704 thousand in 2023.
Impact of Brexit
Doctors who qualified in a country from the European Economic Area (EEA) took up 8.5 percent share of the total doctors registered in the UK in 2021. This is the lowest proportion since 2012, although the decline had started prior to the UK’s decision to leave the EU.