NMC register 2026: what slower growth means

The headline figures (year to 31 March 2026)

Register size: 867,935, up 14,228 on a year earlier.
Growth: 1.7%, down from 3.3% in 2024-25.
Joiners and leavers: 41,542 joined (down 21.4%) and 30,323 left (up 5.3%).
Nurses: 799,001, up just 1.4%. Adult nurses grew by 0.8% to 634,209. Learning disability nurses fell by 0.4% to 16,763. Mental health nurses grew by 2.8% to 106,725.
Nursing associates: 14,238, up 11.4%. The role can currently only be practised in England.

The international slowdown

Overseas joiners: 10,961 internationally educated professionals joined for the first time, 9,708 (47%) fewer than the 20,669 the year before.
Share of joiners: internationally educated professionals made up 26.4% of new joiners, down from 39.1% the year before and a high of 49.4% in 2023-24.
By country: India remained the largest source, but its joiners fell 54.4%, from 9,249 to 4,215. Nigeria (1,614) and Ghana (1,391) came next. For the first time since 2015-16, the Philippines was not in the top three.
UK-educated joiners also fell, by 4.9% to 30,581.

The NMC notes that most internationally educated nurses join as adult nurses, and adult nursing is growing more slowly than the register as a whole. In our reading, adult nurses are the field most nursing homes recruit from. The NMC also says it will closely monitor the fall in UK-educated joiners for signs of "a new and concerning trend".

Internationally educated professionals still make up 24.4% of the register (212,109 people).

Why people leave

Leavers rose to 30,323. The NMC's leavers' survey shows the top three reasons have stayed consistent: retirement, physical or mental health, and burnout or exhaustion. The share leaving to retire has risen by 2 to 3 percentage points each year.

What this means across settings

Nursing homes: recruitment of registered nurses is likely to stay competitive, especially for adult nurses. Overseas pipelines are smaller.
Learning disability services: RNLD numbers fell slightly. Services that need learning disability nurses should expect a small pool.
Mental health services: mental health nursing is growing faster than the register overall, a modest positive.
Nursing associates: in England, a growing group. Where it fits your model and your regulator's expectations, a nursing associate can support registered nurses.

This is our reading of the data for care settings. The NMC report itself does not break figures down by employer type.

What this means for your service

Plan nurse recruitment for a tighter market. Fewer overseas nurses are joining the register.
Retain the nurses you have. Burnout and health are among the top reasons for leaving. Supervision, sensible rotas and protected breaks matter.
Check every agency nurse's registration and induction. Fewer permanent hires often means more agency shifts.
Look at nursing associates and senior carer development where appropriate, without blurring the line on registered nurse duties.
Recruit ethically. The NMC notes that Nigeria and Ghana are on the red list for international recruitment. The relevant codes of practice prohibit active recruitment from those countries, although individual nurses remain free to choose where they work.