Nigerians Become Third-Largest Foreign Workforce in UK NHS

MORE than 40,000 Nigerians are currently employed by the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS), making Nigeria the third-largest source of foreign workers in the British public healthcare system.

According to NHS workforce data for June 2025, 40,575 Nigerian nationals were employed across the health service, behind only British nationals and Indians.

The figures show that the NHS employed 1,197,421 British staff, while Indian nationals accounted for 79,406 employees. Nigerians ranked third with 40,575 workers, ahead of Filipinos, who numbered 35,543.

The data also lists Irish nationals as the fifth-largest workforce with 13,844 employees, followed by Polish nationals (12,518), Ghanaians (9,612), Pakistanis (9,126), Portuguese (8,864), Italians (8,024), Zimbabweans (6,938), Romanians (6,575), Spaniards (5,398), Egyptians (4,967) and Nepalese (4,667). Sri Lankans completed the top 16 nationalities with 3,719 employees.

The statistics highlight the significant contribution of international healthcare professionals to the NHS workforce, with Nigerian doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare workers playing an increasingly prominent role in delivering health services across the UK.

The figures were published by the NHS and highlighted by TheCable Index, reflecting the most common nationalities among staff employed by the UK’s National Health Service as of June 2025.