Over 20,000 Nigerian Health Workers Left the Country in One Year – Report

More than 20,900 Nigerian-trained health workers relocated abroad within the past year, according to the State of Health of the Nation Report 2025, highlighting the country's worsening healthcare workforce crisis.

The report states that those who left include 3,919 doctors, 7,487 nurses and midwives, 6,861 medical laboratory professionals, 702 pharmacists, 658 physiotherapists, and hundreds of other healthcare specialists.

The United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates remain the top destinations for Nigerian medical professionals, offering higher salaries, improved working conditions, better career opportunities, and safer environments.

Official data also shows that only 60,551 of Nigeria's 95,456 registered doctors currently hold active practising licences, while just over half of those licensed are actively working within the country's health system. The nursing profession has experienced the largest migration, with thousands leaving despite an already strained workforce.

Many Nigerian doctors who have relocated cited poor salaries, unpaid wages, insecurity, inadequate hospital facilities, excessive workload, and limited career advancement as the main reasons for leaving the country.

The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors warned that the number of resident doctors has fallen significantly over the past decade, increasing pressure on those still serving in Nigerian hospitals.

Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu urged Nigerian medical professionals in the diaspora to support efforts to rebuild the country's healthcare system and encourage more professionals to return home. He acknowledged the contributions of Nigerians abroad and pledged to continue reforms aimed at improving living and working conditions.

Healthcare experts, however, argue that meaningful improvements in remuneration, hospital infrastructure, security, and working conditions are essential to slow the continued migration of skilled medical personnel.

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