FOI reference: FOI-2036-3535
You asked
I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information from the Office for National Statistics
Please provide the data for each calendar year from 2023 to the most recent full year available (i.e. 2023, 2024, 2025 and, if available, 2026). If the data are only held quarterly, please also supply the quarterly breakdowns so that annual totals can be derived. For people whose main or last occupation was “nursing professionals” (SOC 2231):
Number of people who are unemployed (ILO definition: out of work, actively seeking work, and available to start work).
Number of people who are economically inactive but have nursing qualifications/registration or previous nursing experience (e.g. those who state they would like a job in nursing or healthcare, are long-term sick, have caring responsibilities, are retired early, students, etc.).
Total number in the labour force (employed + unemployed) whose current or last occupation is coded as nursing professionals (SOC 2231).
If the exact SOC 2231 data is not held at that granularity, please provide the closest available (e.g. broader “nursing and midwifery professionals” or healthcare practitioners and note the limitations.
We said
Thank you for your query regarding nursing professionals.
We produce estimates relating to the labour market status and occupations of individuals from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the annual version, the Annual Population Survey (APS), based on interviews with people resident in households in the UK.
We collect information on both the main occupation and last occupation from people. However, for those that are economically inactive or unemployed, we do not collect information on future occupation interests. We also do not collect information on nursing registration, although we do collect information about those with nursing qualifications.
It should be noted that the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code that you have referenced (SOC 2231) specifically relates to Midwifery nurses. The whole of SOC group 223 covers Nursing professionals, with SOC 2232-7 covering Community nurses, Specialist nurses, Nurse practitioners, Mental health nurses, Children’s nurses, and Other nursing professionals.
We do not routinely produce any statistics for the unemployed broken down by last occupation.
We would not be able to produce any statistics relating to those who would like a job in healthcare, as we do not collect this information from the economically inactive. We do not routinely produce estimates of the detailed qualifications of the economically inactive.
We produce estimates for the number of people whose current employment is in the nursing profession (SOC 223), but not the last occupation for the unemployed. Employment by occupation statistics are published each quarter on our Nomis website as part of an occupation breakdown report. According to the APS, for the three years 2023, 2024 and 2025, respectively, there were an estimated 735,000, 715,700 and 709,300 people resident in the UK working as Nursing professionals.
While we do not routinely produce estimates relating to last occupation, or the detailed qualifications relating to nursing, it would be possible to request a tailored analysis to look at these, by emailing our Social Surveys team socialsurveys@ons.gov.uk. There may be a charge for this service depending on the amount of time taken to develop the analysis and undertake quality and disclosure control processes.
As this information is reasonably accessible via another route, even if only accessible on payment, Section 21(2)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) applies.