Physicians in the United Kingdom statistics & facts

Doctors in the UK: the headline numbers

The United Kingdom has more doctors than at any point in its history. At the end of 2025, 410,566 doctors were on the medical register kept by the General Medical Council (GMC), up 4.4 percent in a year, and 328,149 held a licence to practise at the end of 2024, an increase of 35 percent since 2017. In England alone, the NHS employed 192,732 full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors in hospitals and general practice in September 2025, compared with 138,890 in 2015. Yet the UK still has fewer doctors per head of population than most comparable countries, and surveys show a profession under heavy strain.

The profession is also changing in character. In 2024, for the first time, women made up the majority of licensed doctors. In 2023 doctors from ethnic minority backgrounds outnumbered white doctors. Forty-two percent of licensed doctors qualified abroad, and two-thirds of doctors taking up a licence for the first time now come from outside the UK. At the same time, a record 16,124 doctors gave up their licence in 2024, the GMC received a record 13,465 concerns about doctors in 2025, and resident doctors in England only ended a three-year pay dispute in June 2026.

This report brings together the most important statistics on physicians in the United Kingdom: the size and growth of the medical register, how doctors are distributed across registers, nations and regions, international comparisons, characteristics, specialties, pay, wellbeing, migration and regulation. Each section links to a dedicated report with more detail and charts.

The medical register and licensed doctors

Every doctor who practises medicine in the UK must be registered with the GMC and hold a licence to practise. The register also includes doctors who are registered but do not hold a licence, for example because they work abroad, have retired or do not currently need to practise. At the end of 2025 there were 410,566 doctors on the register, with or without a licence, compared with 393,357 at the end of 2024 and 378,054 at the end of 2023. Back in 2011 the register held 245,903 doctors, so it has grown by two-thirds in fourteen years.

The number of licensed doctors, those entitled to practise, is the best measure of the active workforce. It was broadly flat between 2012 and 2016 at around 235,000 to 238,000, before rising every year since: to 260,320 in 2019, 283,663 in 2021, 313,829 in 2023 and 328,149 in 2024. The increase of almost 91,000 licensed doctors between 2016 and 2024 reflects larger medical school intakes and, above all, international recruitment.

A decade of growth: The number of licensed doctors rose from 236,244 in 2012 to 328,149 in 2024.

The register has also expanded to include new professions. Since December 2024 the GMC has regulated physician associates and anaesthesia associates, who work alongside doctors but are not doctors themselves. By 31 December 2025 the GMC had registered 3,909 physician associates and 180 anaesthesia associates. Their role, and how their regulation differs from that of doctors, is explained in this guide to GMC regulation of physician associates↗.

The pandemic left a visible mark on the register. To support the NHS response to COVID-19, the GMC granted temporary emergency registration to doctors who had recently left practice or were close to qualifying. In 2020, 25,307 doctors held temporary registration, falling to 22,713 in 2021, 9,117 in 2022 and 8,447 in 2023 as the arrangements were wound down. These doctors are counted separately from fully registered and licensed doctors.

Inflows to the register remain at record levels. The GMC added 24,812 new registrants in 2025. It also received 5,880 applications to join the specialist register, 6.6 percent more than in 2024, of which 58.6 percent came from UK-qualified doctors, and 4,023 applications to join the GP register, 3.9 percent fewer than a year earlier, of which 49.4 percent were from UK graduates. Applications to the specialist register from doctors who trained outside the formal UK training system have become an important route to consultant posts.

GPs, specialists, trainees and other doctors

Doctors on the register fall into broad groups. Fully trained GPs are listed on the GP register and consultants and other fully trained specialists on the specialist register. Doctors in training are working towards one of these, while a large group of doctors is on neither register and not in a formal training post. This last group includes specialty and specialist (SAS) doctors and locally employed doctors, many of whom are international graduates. In 2024, of 328,149 licensed doctors, 79,171 were in training and 87,151 were on neither register and not in training, leaving about 161,800 on the GP or specialist registers.

Half are fully registered specialists or GPs: About 161,800 licensed doctors are on the GP or specialist registers.

The fastest-growing group has been doctors on neither register. Their number rose by 8 percent to 87,151 in 2024, after increases of more than 6,000 and 10,000 in the two previous years. In England and Wales, the number of locally employed doctors in this group rose from 11,892 in 2014 to 38,394 in 2024. On the established registers, growth has been steadier. The specialist register grew from 104,383 at the end of 2020 to 115,587 at the end of 2025, while the GP register rose from 77,659 to 82,415. Our report on GP statistics covers general practice in detail, and our report on specialty training the pipeline into both registers.

Specialists grow faster: The specialist register grew 11 percent between 2020 and 2025, the GP register 6 percent.

Doctors working in the NHS in England

The NHS in England is by far the largest employer of doctors in the UK. According to figures given by the government to Parliament, the number of FTE doctors working in hospitals, community services and general practice in England rose from 138,890 in September 2015 to 192,732 in September 2025, an increase of 39 percent. Growth accelerated after 2019, with between about 7,800 and 8,800 FTE doctors added in each of the last three years.

Up 39 percent in ten years: NHS England employed 192,732 FTE doctors in 2025, against 138,890 in 2015.

The mix of doctors has shifted towards hospitals. GPs made up 21 percent of FTE doctors in England in 2015 but only 15 percent in 2025, while consultants remained at around 31 percent and SAS doctors rose from 6 to 7 percent. The remaining share is made up mainly of resident doctors in training. In hospital and community health services alone, NHS England employed 153,389 FTE doctors in April 2026. London had the largest number with 31,667, followed by the Midlands with 27,100 and the North East and Yorkshire with 22,829.

London leads: One in five NHS hospital doctors in England works in London.

Despite growth, vacancies remain. According to BMA analysis of NHS England vacancy statistics, there were 9,390 medical vacancies in June 2026, 5.6 percent of medical posts, and there were 48,500 more FTE secondary care doctors in July 2026 than in September 2015. Workforce growth has not removed pressure on services, because demand has risen as well.

Doctors in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Health is devolved, and each nation publishes its own workforce statistics using different definitions, so figures cannot simply be added together. In Scotland, NHS Scotland employed 16,569.8 whole-time equivalent (WTE) medical and dental staff at the end of March 2026, an increase of 4 percent, and the GMC counted 24,368 licensed doctors in Scotland in 2024. In Wales, NHS Wales employed 8,833 FTE medical and dental staff at the end of March 2026, up 2.6 percent, including 1,635 FTE fully qualified GPs. In Northern Ireland, health and social care bodies employed 5,511.7 WTE medical and dental staff in June 2026, up 6.4 percent, including 2,154 WTE consultants.

The gender balance also differs between nations. Women made up 54.8 percent of licensed doctors in Scotland in 2024 and 53.5 percent in Northern Ireland, but 49.7 percent in England and 47.3 percent in Wales. More detail is in our report on UK doctors by gender, age and ethnicity.

How the UK compares internationally

By international standards, the UK has relatively few doctors. According to the OECD Health at a Glance 2025 report, the UK had 3.4 practising doctors per 1,000 population in 2023, below the OECD average of 3.9. Italy had 5.4, Germany 4.7, Spain 4.4, Australia 4.2 and France 3.9. Only Canada and the United States, each with 2.7, had fewer among the countries compared. Closing the gap with the OECD average would require tens of thousands of additional doctors, which is one reason for the planned expansion of medical school places.

Below the OECD average: The UK has 3.4 doctors per 1,000 people, against 4.7 in Germany and 5.4 in Italy.

Doctors among the UK health professions

Doctors are the second-largest regulated health profession in the UK after nurses and midwives. According to the Professional Standards Authority, which oversees the nine health and care regulators, the GMC had 415,428 registrants at the end of March 2026. The Nursing and Midwifery Council had 867,935, the Health and Care Professions Council, which covers 15 professions from physiotherapists to paramedics, 367,535, and the General Dental Council 132,296. In total the nine health regulators, together with Social Work England, oversaw about 2 million registrants.

Second only to nurses: The GMC register is the second largest of the UK health and care regulators.

Who UK doctors are

The profile of UK doctors has changed rapidly. In 2024, female licensed doctors outnumbered male doctors for the first time, at 50.04 percent. Women are the majority in obstetrics and gynaecology (63 percent), paediatrics (61 percent) and general practice (58 percent), but only 17 percent of doctors in surgery. In 2023, 47.6 percent of licensed doctors came from ethnic minority backgrounds and 47.0 percent were white, with Asian or Asian British doctors the largest minority group at 32.2 percent. Doctors in their thirties were the largest age group, at 34.2 percent. The full figures are in our report on the demographics of UK doctors.

Place of qualification is the other major change. In 2024, 138,405 licensed doctors, 42 percent, had qualified outside the UK, compared with 33 percent in 2017. International medical graduates have outnumbered UK graduates among new licence holders every year since 2019, and in 2024 they accounted for 18,630 first-time licences against 9,237 for UK graduates. The largest sources are India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt and Bangladesh. Our report on international doctors in the UK covers this in detail.

42 percent trained abroad: 138,405 of 328,149 licensed doctors obtained their primary qualification outside the UK.

Training and specialties

The pipeline into the profession is under pressure at the specialty training stage. A record 25,770 people applied to study medicine for 2026 entry, and 98 percent of eligible applicants were allocated a foundation programme place for 2026. But applicants for specialty training rose from about 12,000 in 2019 to nearly 40,000, competing for around 10,000 posts. In 2025, core psychiatry attracted 21.83 applications per post, anaesthetics 12.56 and GP training 4.91. From 2026, the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act gives UK graduates priority, and prioritised candidates filled 98 percent of specialty posts in 2026. Details are in our report on specialty training in the UK.

General practice faces particular challenges. In England there were 29,223 FTE fully qualified GPs in August 2026, broadly the same as in 2015, while the number of patients per GP rose to 2,160, according to BMA analysis of NHS England data. GP partners have declined by almost 6,600 FTE since 2015. See our report on GP statistics for the full picture.

Doctor pay

Doctors are paid on national pay scales that now differ between the four nations. In England in 2026/27, a first-year foundation doctor earns a basic salary of 41,226 pounds and a consultant between 113,565 and 150,569 pounds. The independent pay review body recommended a 3.5 percent rise for most doctors for 2026/27. Resident doctors in England took 15 rounds of strike action between 2023 and April 2026 before accepting a deal in June 2026. Contractor GPs in England earned 164,200 pounds before tax on average in 2024/25, and salaried GPs 74,800 pounds. Our report on UK doctor pay sets out pay scales and awards by grade and nation.

Satisfaction and burnout

Surveys show a profession under strain. In the GMC Barometer survey 2025, 55 percent of doctors were at least somewhat satisfied with their day-to-day work, down from 75 percent in 2020, and 20 percent were at high risk of burnout. Sixty-one percent worked beyond their rostered hours at least weekly, and 39 percent had witnessed patient safety or care being compromised. GPs and locally employed doctors reported the greatest pressure, and among trainees, 30 percent of those in emergency medicine were at high risk of burnout. The full survey data are in our report on burnout among UK doctors.

Joiners and leavers

The UK medical workforce depends on a large inflow of new doctors to offset rising departures. In 2024, 30,444 doctors joined the UK medical workforce, while 16,124 stopped holding a licence, up from 9,667 in 2019. Leavers who had been working in the UK included 5,793 UK graduates and 4,880 international graduates, the latter up 26 percent in a year. Practising abroad has overtaken retirement as the most common reason for leaving, and Australia is the top destination. In 2025, 22 percent of doctors said they were likely to leave UK practice in the next year. See our report on doctors leaving the UK.

Regulation and fitness to practise

The GMC sets the professional standards that all doctors must meet, published as Good medical practice, and decides whether doctors are fit to practise. Licensed doctors must take part in annual appraisal and revalidate every five years, drawing on continuing professional development, feedback and reflection; options such as GMC CPD and remediation courses for doctors↗ are one way doctors evidence learning. When a concern is raised, the GMC can investigate and refer cases to independent tribunals run by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service.

In 2025 the GMC received a record 13,465 concerns about doctors, 25 percent more than in 2024. About 87 percent were closed at initial triage, 997 led to a full investigation, case examiners referred 184 cases to a tribunal, and tribunals erased 48 doctors and suspended 68. Concerns related to about 3 percent of registered doctors. A step-by-step explanation of what happens to a doctor during this process is available in this guide to GMC fitness to practise↗, and the full statistics in our report on GMC fitness to practise statistics.

Milestones for the UK medical profession

The statistics in this report reflect a series of changes to how doctors are trained, regulated and employed. The table below lists some of the milestones behind the numbers, from the creation of the medical register to the policy changes of 2026.

Outlook

The UK medical workforce is larger and more diverse than ever, but it faces three linked challenges. The first is capacity: despite rapid growth, the UK remains below the OECD average for doctors per head, and demand continues to rise with an ageing population. The second is retention: record numbers of doctors are leaving, younger UK graduates are increasingly heading abroad, and international doctors are leaving at a faster rate. The third is the training pipeline: the expansion of medical school places will only increase the number of qualified doctors if there are enough foundation, specialty and GP training posts.

Several policy changes will shape the next few years. The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act changes who gets training posts. The 2026 resident doctor pay deal aims to end industrial action and improve retention. The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan targets 15,000 medical school places by 2031. And the GMC continues to expand its role to cover physician associates and anaesthesia associates. The next GMC workforce report, expected in late 2026, and the 2026 Barometer survey will show whether the trends of recent years continue.

UK doctors in numbers

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