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International nurse migration: key statistics, 2026

How many nurses work outside the country where they trained or were born, where they come from, and what the WHO safeguards and Code say. Every figure links to its source and shows the date it was checked.

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Key findings

  1. WHO counts 29.8 million nurses worldwide in 2023, with a shortage of 5.8 million.
  2. Foreign-trained nurses make up nearly 52% of nurses in Ireland (2021–2023), against 23% in the UK.
  3. Across the OECD, 17.6% of nurses were born abroad (c. 2020/21), and 8.8% were trained abroad (2021–2023, unweighted average).
  4. The Philippines (nearly 280,000) and India (122,000) are the largest source countries of foreign-born nurses in the OECD (c. 2020/21).
  5. The WHO health workforce support and safeguards list (2023) names 55 countries. The WHO Global Code of Practice on international recruitment is voluntary.

Global workforce and shortage

WHO figures for nurses worldwide, from its State of the World's Nursing 2025 news release.

Nurses trained or born abroad, by destination

The share of nurses in each destination. The measure differs by row, and each row says which measure it is.

  1. Irelandforeign-trained nurses, 2021–2023OECD, International Migration Outlook 2025, chapter 5 (3 November 2025) · Checked 1 Nov 2026nearly 52%
  2. United Kingdomforeign-trained nurses, 2021–2023OECD, International Migration Outlook 2025, chapter 5 (3 November 2025) · Checked 1 Nov 202623%
  3. Australiaforeign-trained nurses, 2023OECD, International Migration Outlook 2025, chapter 5 (3 November 2025) · Checked 1 Nov 202618%
  4. Canadainternationally educated share of registered nurses, 2025CIHI, Registered nurses (web page; Quick Stats updated 25 June 2026) · Checked 1 Nov 202616.8%
  5. United Kingdominternationally educated registrants, all professions, 31 March 2026NMC, The NMC Register 1 April 2025 (annual data report, data to 31 March 2026) · Checked 1 Nov 202624.4%
  6. OECD averageforeign-born nurses, c. 2020/21OECD, International Migration Outlook 2025, chapter 5 (3 November 2025) · Checked 1 Nov 202617.6%
  7. OECD averageforeign-trained nurses, unweighted average, 2021–2023OECD, International Migration Outlook 2025, chapter 5 (3 November 2025) · Checked 1 Nov 20268.8%

No share is given in the sources checked for Ireland's regulator (NMBI), which reports a fall in new registrants educated abroad, or for Australia's regulator (AHPRA) on the page checked.

Top source countries

Where the nurses come from, for each source that names countries and gives a number.

Foreign-born nurses in the OECD, by country of birth
  1. Philippinesborn in this country, c. 2020/21OECD, International Migration Outlook 2025, chapter 5 (3 November 2025) · Checked 1 Nov 2026nearly 280,000
  2. Indiaborn in this country, c. 2020/21OECD, International Migration Outlook 2025, chapter 5 (3 November 2025) · Checked 1 Nov 2026122,000
Nurses in the OECD born in safeguards-list countries
  1. Nigeriaborn in this country, c. 2020/21OECD, International Migration Outlook 2025, chapter 5 (3 November 2025) · Checked 1 Nov 202655k
  2. Haitiborn in this country, c. 2020/21OECD, International Migration Outlook 2025, chapter 5 (3 November 2025) · Checked 1 Nov 202635.8k
  3. Ghanaborn in this country, c. 2020/21OECD, International Migration Outlook 2025, chapter 5 (3 November 2025) · Checked 1 Nov 202621.4k
  4. Zimbabweborn in this country, c. 2020/21OECD, International Migration Outlook 2025, chapter 5 (3 November 2025) · Checked 1 Nov 202620.8k
  5. Cameroonborn in this country, c. 2020/21OECD, International Migration Outlook 2025, chapter 5 (3 November 2025) · Checked 1 Nov 202617.2k

About 257,000 nurses working in the OECD were born in a safeguards-list country (c. 2020/21). Figures are rounded as the source gives them.

Internationally educated joiners to the UK register
  1. Indianew joiners, all professions, 12 months to 31 March 2026NMC, The NMC Register 1 April 2025 (annual data report, data to 31 March 2026) · Checked 1 Nov 20264,215
  2. Nigerianew joiners, all professions, 12 months to 31 March 2026NMC, The NMC Register 1 April 2025 (annual data report, data to 31 March 2026) · Checked 1 Nov 20261,614
  3. Ghananew joiners, all professions, 12 months to 31 March 2026NMC, The NMC Register 1 April 2025 (annual data report, data to 31 March 2026) · Checked 1 Nov 20261,391

The OECD ranks the top five countries of birth as the Philippines, India, Poland, Nigeria and Germany. It gives numbers for the Philippines and India only.

WHO safeguards list and Global Code of Practice

The WHO health workforce support and safeguards list 2023, published on 8 March 2023, names 55 countries. A country is on it when its density of doctors, nurses and midwives is below the global median of 49 per 10,000 people and its universal health coverage service index is below a set threshold.

The list identifies countries that face the most pressing health workforce challenges. Support and safeguards are targeted at them, and WHO says the safeguards against active international recruitment may need to be revised and extended.

The WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel (WHA63.16, 2010) sets voluntary principles for ethical recruitment. In plain words, it asks governments, recruiters and employers to weigh the rights and expectations of the countries that lose nurses, the countries that hire them and the nurses themselves. No country is bound by it, but Member States are strongly encouraged to use it.

What this means for nurses

  1. Foreign-trained nurses are a large part of the workforce in some destinations. In Ireland the share is nearly 52%, and in the UK it is 23%.
  2. Nurses trained in a country on the safeguards list are the group the WHO safeguards are designed to protect. Check how the destination's rules treat recruitment from that country before you apply.
  3. The figures change. Most date from 2020/21 to 2026. Follow the source link on each figure and confirm the current rules with the destination's regulator before you plan a move.

How this report was built

  1. Sources. Figures come only from WHO, the OECD, the NMC and CIHI. Each figure shows its year, its source link and the date the source was checked.
  2. Not estimated. Where a source does not state a figure or its year, the report leaves the figure out. Shares are not calculated from counts.
  3. Different measures. Foreign-born, foreign-trained, internationally educated and all-registrant figures measure different things, so they are not directly comparable.
  4. Left out. The WHO share of foreign-born nurses (one in seven) and its income-group shares are not used, because the source gives no year for them.
  5. Years. Each year is the one the source gives. A range such as 2021–2023 is the source's own range.
  6. Latest check. The latest figure in this report was checked on 1 Nov 2026. Sources are updated, so confirm a figure at its source before you rely on it.

How to cite this report

Link to the report so readers can check each figure. Copy the HTML link for a web page, or the text citation for a document.

HTML link

<a href="https://nurseflyabroad.com/en/reports/nurse-migration-statistics">International nurse migration: key statistics, 2026</a> (NurseFlyAbroad)

Text citation

NurseFlyAbroad, International nurse migration: key statistics, 2026. Figures checked 1 Nov 2026. https://nurseflyabroad.com/en/reports/nurse-migration-statistics
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