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10,494 Nigerians work in UK NHS — sixth-largest foreign nationality - THE CABLE
Nigerians are the sixth-largest nationality group in the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS).
According to data shared by NHS Million, a not-for-profit organisation, 10,494 Nigerian nationals are among NHS staff, placing Nigeria behind India, the Philippines, Ireland and Poland.
British/UK nationals made up the largest staff group in the NHS, numbering 1,118,116, followed by Indians with 32,117 and Filipinos with 25,423.
Irish nationals ranked fourth with 14,151, while Polish nationals were fifth with 10,520.
Nigerians were followed by Portuguese nationals, who ranked seventh with 7,831 staff, while Italians, Spaniards and Romanians ranked eighth, ninth and 10th, with 6,660, 5,405 and 5,251 staff, respectively.
Pakistanis accounted for 4,902 NHS staff, followed by Zimbabweans with 4,780 and Ghanaians with 3,395.
The data also listed nationals from several other African countries, including South Africa (1,829), Kenya (894), Uganda (648), Sierra Leone (596), Zambia (498), Niger (418), Cameroon (358), Malawi (291), The Gambia (284) and Mauritania (239).
OVERSEAS STAFF REMAIN VITAL TO NHS WORKFORCE
The data highlights the NHS’s continued reliance on overseas workers, despite a slowdown in international recruitment.
According to the UK House of Commons Library, around 325,000 NHS staff in England, representing 21 percent of the workforce, reported a non-British nationality as of June 2025.
The library said NHS staff in England reported more than 200 nationalities, with non-UK nationals accounting for a higher proportion of doctors and nurses than in the overall workforce.
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About 36 percent of doctors and 30 percent of nurses reported a non-UK nationality, compared with 19 percent of NHS staff overall.
The library also said about 138,400 licensed doctors who qualified abroad were working in the UK in 2025, accounting for 42 percent of all licensed doctors.
However, the pace of international recruitment is slowing down.
About 20,100 internationally trained doctors joined the UK medical register in 2024, accounting for 66 percent of new joiners, compared with 19,600 in 2023.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council also recorded a 50 percent fall in overseas-trained nurses, midwives and nursing associates joining its register between April and September 2025 compared with the same period in 2024.
The UK government has also introduced measures to reduce the NHS’s reliance on international recruitment.
The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026, which came into force in March, prioritises UK medical graduates and certain other groups for foundation and speciality training places.
The government said the policy is intended to support a more sustainable domestic medical workforce, although it continues to recognise the contribution of international medical graduates to the NHS.
In 2025, the UK also stopped accepting new overseas applications for care worker and senior care worker roles under the health and care worker visa route.
