HQ Team
May 12, 2025: At least 78% of the world’s nurses are concentrated in countries representing 49% of the population, according to a global nursing report published by the World Health Organization and the International Council of Nurses.
The global nursing workforce has grown from 27.9 million in 2018 to 29.8 million in 2023, but wide disparities in the availability of nurses remain across regions and countries, according to the State of the World’s Nursing 2025 report.
Inequities in the global nursing workforce leave many of the world’s population without access to essential health services, which could threaten progress towards universal health coverage, global health security and the health-related development goals.
Data from WHO’s 194 Member States indicated global progress in reducing the nursing workforce shortage from 6.2 million in 2020 to 5.8 million in 2023, with a projection to decline to 4.1 million by 2030.
“But the overall progress still masks deep regional disparities. Low- and middle-income countries are facing challenges in graduating, employing and retaining nurses in the health system and will need to raise domestic investments to create and sustain jobs.”
High levels of retiring nurses
In parallel, high-income countries need to be prepared to manage high levels of retiring nurses and review their reliance on foreign-trained nurses, strengthening bilateral agreements with the countries they recruit from.
“This report contains encouraging news, for which we congratulate the countries that are making progress,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “However, we cannot ignore the inequalities that mark the global nursing landscape.”
“I urge countries and partners to use this report as a signpost, showing us where we’ve come from, where we are now, and where we need to go – as rapidly as possible.”
The report found complex disparities between and among countries, regions and socio-economic contexts.
Pam Cipriano, President, International Council of Nurses, said the report exposed the inequalities that were holding back the nursing profession and “acting as a barrier to achieving universal health coverage (UHC). Delivering on UHC is dependent on truly recognising the value of nurses and on harnessing the power and influence of nurses to act as catalysts of positive change in our health systems.”
Women nurses
Gender and equity remained central concerns in the nursing workforce. Women continue to dominate the profession, making up 85% of the global nursing workforce.
One in seven nurses worldwide — and 23% in high-income countries — are foreign-born, highlighting reliance on international migration. In contrast, the proportion is significantly lower in upper-middle-income countries (8%), lower-middle-income countries (1%), and low-income countries (3%).
Low-income countries are increasing nurse graduates at a faster pace than high-income countries. “In many countries, hard-earned gains in the graduation rate of nurses are not resulting in improved densities due to the faster pace of population growth and lower employment opportunities.”
To address this, countries should create jobs to ensure graduates are hired and integrated into the health system and improve working conditions, according to the report.
The global nursing workforce is relatively young — 33% of nurses are aged under 35 years, compared with 19% who are expected to retire in the next 10 years. However, in 20 countries – mostly high-income – retirements are expected to outpace new entrants, raising concerns about nurse shortfalls, and having fewer experienced nurses to mentor early career nurses.
Mental health concerns
Around two-thirds (62%) of countries reported the existence of advanced practice nursing roles, marking significant progress since 2020, when only 53% reported advanced practice nursing roles. These types of nurses have been shown to expand access to and quality of care in many different settings.
On nursing leadership, 82% of countries reported having a senior government nursing official to manage the nursing workforce.
However, leadership development opportunities remained uneven. While 66% of countries report having such initiatives in place, only 25% of low-income countries offer structured leadership development.
Mental health and workforce well-being remain areas of concern. Only 42% of responding countries have provisions for nurses’ mental health support, despite increased workloads and trauma experienced during and since the COVID-19 pandemic. Addressing this is essential to retain skilled professionals and ensure quality of care.
