WHO Report on Europe’s Rising Dependence on Foreign-Trained Doctors and Nurses Raising Workforce Concerns
SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being | SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals
Institutions: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare | Ministry of External Affairs
The World Health Organization’s European Region released its report on health workforce migration on 16 September 2025, documenting sharp increases in foreign-trained health professionals. Between 2014 and 2023, the number of foreign-trained doctors in Europe grew by 58% and foreign-trained nurses by 67%. In 2023 alone, 60% of newly arriving doctors and 72% of newly arriving nurses were trained outside the Region. Some countries are heavily reliant: in Ireland, over half of nurses and 43% of doctors are foreign-trained.
The report warns that the Region faces a projected shortfall of 950,000 health workers by 2030, with sustainability challenges heightened by uneven migration flows. It calls for stronger retention strategies, improved training capacity, and adherence to ethical recruitment standards to balance the needs of both destination and source countries.
Europe’s dependence highlights a global risk where health systems in high-income countries increasingly rely on imported workforce capacity, potentially deepening shortages in source countries. This underscores the urgency of coordinated planning, investment in domestic training, and fair international partnerships to secure equitable health coverage.
Although the report does not explicitly mention India, the findings are highly relevant. India is one of the world’s largest source countries for doctors and nurses, particularly to Europe, the Gulf, North America, and Australia. Rising European dependence could increase demand for Indian professionals, boosting remittances but also risking domestic shortages. This highlights the need for India to strengthen retention policies (better pay, safer workplaces, career opportunities), pursue bilateral agreements ensuring ethical recruitment and mutual benefits and expand domestic training capacity while securing equitable distribution across states and rural areas.
Follow the full report here: https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/382570/WHO-EURO-2025-10839-50611-76542-eng.pdf?sequence=2