Inequities in Nursing Workforce Distribution
The 2025 Nurse Migration Report by TruMerit, released on April 28, 2026, reveals significant changes in global nurse migration patterns. Europe and Southeast Asia are increasingly absorbing a larger share of international nurses. This trend highlights widening inequities in the distribution of the global nursing workforce.
Europe now employs internationally educated nurses at a rate of 8.01% of its healthcare workforce. This is an increase from a ten-year average of 5.96%. In Southeast Asia, the proportion of internationally educated nurses has risen to 24.87%, compared to a decade average of 20.15%.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Mediterranean and African regions face a decline in employing internationally educated nurses. This trend exacerbates existing nursing shortages in these underserved areas.
Dr. Peter Preziosi, President and CEO of TruMerit, emphasised, “These data expose a widening global imbalance. Well-resourced health systems are accelerating their absorption of internationally educated nurses. Meanwhile, regions with severe nursing shortages are losing the capacity to employ the professionals they urgently need.”
Increasing Mobility of Nurses
The report highlights rising mobility among internationally educated nurses. From 2021 to 2024, around 3% of nurses migrating to the United States had previously worked in another country. This points to a trend of multiple international career moves.
Rodrigo Gouveia, Chief Global Affairs Officer at TruMerit, remarked, “The data in this report make clear that nurse migration is not simply a matter of supply and demand. It reflects deeper structural inequities in how healthcare education, employment capacity, and healthcare resources are distributed globally.”
Emerging risks to healthcare workforce integrity are also highlighted. The report warns of a potential rise in AI-generated credential fraud. By 2026, one in four job candidate profiles may be fabricated by artificial intelligence, underscoring the importance of verified credentialing systems.
The report discusses the need for coordinated actions by source and destination countries. Ethical recruitment frameworks and stronger bilateral agreements are necessary to offset education and training costs borne by source countries. Sustained investment in nursing education and health system capacity in underserved regions is also vital.
The full 2025 Nurse Migration Report is available for download. It provides further insight into the challenges and proposals for addressing global health equity through coordinated policy frameworks and investment in nursing education.
Last updated: 29 June 2026, 12:18 pm
