Number of registered doctors in the UK in 2024, by gender and specialty

In 2024, out of the 390 thousand registered doctors in the United Kingdom, 200 thousand were men and 190 thousand were women. There was a more pronounced gender gap among specialist doctors in the UK with 68.4 thousand men to nearly 43 thousand women qualified on the specialist register. Although on the GP register, women outnumber men with over 45 thousand female GPs to nearly 35 thousand male GPs. 

Gender distribution of UK doctors by age

While there are more male doctors than female doctors in total, the gender distribution of doctors in the UK looks different depending on the age group. Female doctors outnumber their male counterpart in all age groups under 45 years old. Therefore, as more doctors retire, the proportion of female doctors will increase.

Worldwide make-up of doctors in the UK

Although the majority of medical practitioners in the UK received their medical qualification from within the UK, there is still a significant number of doctors who graduated outside the UK. As of 2023, some 10 percent of registered doctors in the UK are from the European Economic Area (EEA) while a further third are international medical graduates (IMG) indicating the reliance of the NHS on immigration to support the organization’s workforce.