A recent study by the General Medical Council (GMC), the official registry of UK physicians, has revealed that over the last year, 1,616 medical professionals with training from Nigeria have relocated to the United Kingdom (UK).
The report, titled “The State of Medical Education and Practice in the UK Workforce Report 2023,” was published on the GMC website in November 2023.
Nigeria stands as the third-largest non-UK graduate contributor of doctors to the UK workforce, ranking behind India and Pakistan with 2,402 and 2,372 doctors, respectively.
The report highlights that of the 23,838 new doctors added to the register in 2022, 63% had training from outside the UK, with 52% being International Medical Graduates (IMGs), and 10% being doctors from the European Economic Area (EEA).
India and Pakistan were identified as the top contributors, accounting for 16% of non-UK graduates joining the workforce in 2022.
The report notes a significant rise in the number of doctors entering the UK market with a Nigerian Primary Medical Qualification (PMQ). In 2014, only 181 Nigerian-trained doctors joined, ranking them as the 11th largest group of non-UK PMQ joiners.
However, by 2022, this number had surged to 1,616 doctors, making Nigeria the third-largest non-UK graduate contributor to the UK workforce.
The study also indicates a gradual increase in the number of doctors joining the UK workforce with a nationality different from the country where they gained their PMQ.
Additionally, non-British nationality doctors with the same nationality as their primary medical qualification country, such as Nigerian doctors who studied medicine in Nigeria, accounted for 48% of doctors joining the UK workforce in 2022.