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A total of 4,193 doctors and dentists left Nigeria for greener pastures in 2024, according to the Nigeria Health Statistics Report released by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.
The report, obtained by our correspondent on Friday, shows that the migration of health workers surged by 200 per cent across all cadres between 2023 and 2024.
It notes that thousands of medical professionals, including doctors, nurses and allied health workers, left the country in search of better opportunities abroad.
An analysis of the document reveals that 43,221 doctors, nurses, pharmacists and medical laboratory scientists migrated out of the country between 2023 and 2024.
The figures highlight a deepening brain drain within Nigeria’s health sector, with highly skilled professionals relocating to countries offering better remuneration, career prospects and working conditions.
The report warns that the exodus poses a serious challenge to Nigeria’s healthcare system, especially in underserved areas, and underscores the urgent need for policies aimed at retaining health workers and strengthening domestic capacity.
It reads in part: “Nigeria’s health workforce recorded steady growth between 2022 and 2024 across major professional groups, with notable increases in doctors (18 per cent), nurses and midwives (13 per cent), pharmacists (27 per cent), and laboratory scientists (39 per cent), reflecting expanded training capacity and policy reforms.
“However, significant licensing gaps persist, and only about half of registered professionals are actively licensed to practise, highlighting regulatory bottlenecks and workforce underutilisation. Despite these gains, rural–urban and sectoral disparities remain pronounced, with the majority of health workers concentrated in urban and public settings.
“Attrition, especially through external migration, remains a significant challenge. External migration surged by 200 per cent across all cadres between 2023 and 2024. In 2024 alone, a total of 4,193 doctors and dentists left Nigeria, with approximately 66 per cent migrating to the United Kingdom. Nurses and midwives are the most affected groups.”
For the 2023–2024 period, the top 10 destinations for Nigerian doctors and dentists were: the United Kingdom (4,627), Canada (934), the United States (561), Australia (188), the United Arab Emirates (140), Ireland (113), the Maldives (77), Botswana (67), India (57) and Saudi Arabia (43).
As of 2024, more than 23,000 Nigerian nurses and midwives had also migrated abroad in search of better employment opportunities and improved working conditions. Pharmacists and medical laboratory scientists have likewise joined the exodus.
Top destinations for pharmacists included Canada (765), the United Kingdom (196), Australia (88), the United States (53), the Republic of Ireland (30), the United Arab Emirates (nine), South Africa (three), Rwanda (two), Germany (two) and Saudi Arabia (two).
For medical laboratory scientists, the leading countries of migration were Canada (6,393), the United Arab Emirates (2,010), Ireland (1,500), the United States (1,052) and the United Kingdom (410).
The mass migration of doctors, nurses, pharmacists and laboratory scientists between 2023 and 2024 has further strained the system, leaving clinics and hospitals with fewer personnel to meet rising patient demand.
Although the Federal Government has employed over 37,000 healthcare workers from 2023 to date — with more than 75 per cent in clinical roles — a significant workforce gap remains.
Speaking during the Joint Annual Report meeting of the health sector in Abuja, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Salako, said:
“Our doctor-to-population ratio is 1:5,000 (against the WHO recommendation of 1:600), while the nurse-to-population ratio is as low as 1:2,000 (against the WHO recommendation of 1:300). This is further compounded by inequities in the distribution of health workers, where 75 per cent are concentrated in urban areas, serving 45 per cent of the population.”
He added that the government remains committed to addressing these challenges by strengthening primary healthcare systems, expanding the Health Workforce Registry, increasing training quotas for health professionals and implementing retention policies to curb migration.
“Though migration continues to adversely affect retention, a health workforce migration policy has been developed to achieve better retention and foster more collaborative contributions from Nigerian health professionals in the diaspora,” he said.
The minister reaffirmed the government’s goal of building a resilient health system capable of responding to shocks and delivering quality care to Nigerians, noting that these interventions form part of the broader Nigerian Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiatives.
