Morganable Africa/Diaspora
A breakdown of the data indicates that the overwhelming majority of the visas were issued under the Human Health and Social Work Activities category
kaNo —
The United Kingdom granted a total of 49,498 work visas to Nigerian nationals between 2021 and the first quarter of 2026, underscoring the country’s strong presence in Britain’s foreign labour market.
The figures, obtained from official UK Home Office occupation visa datasets, show that Nigeria recorded the second-highest number of work visa grants globally over the period, driven largely by demand for health and care workers.
According to the data, Nigerians submitted 54,707 work visa applications within the five-year period, achieving a high approval rate of 90.5 per cent before the UK government introduced stricter immigration policies in 2024.
A breakdown of the data indicates that the overwhelming majority of the visas were issued under the Human Health and Social Work Activities category, which accounted for 42,503 grants, representing 85.9 per cent of the total.
This trend reflects the growing reliance of the UK’s health and social care system on foreign workers, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the labour shortages triggered by Brexit.
The leading occupations in this category included chartered and certified accountants, who received 536 visas, followed by programmers and software development professionals with 401 grants.
Management consultants and business analysts accounted for 321 visas, while IT business analysts, architects and systems designers received 287.
Web designers and developers recorded 73 visas, highlighting a modest but growing presence of Nigerian talent in the UK’s technology and professional services sectors.
In addition, the Creative Worker visa route, which caters to professionals in the entertainment industry such as musicians, actors and performers, contributed 1,791 grants to Nigerians during the period under review.
In 2021, a total of 5,119 visas were issued, rising sharply to 14,084 in 2022 and peaking at 28,495 in 2023, representing a nearly six-fold increase within two years.
The surge was largely attributed to the UK government’s expansion of the Health and Care Worker visa route in 2022.
The policy opened the pathway to care workers in response to severe staffing shortages in the National Health Service and the broader care sector, exacerbated by the pandemic and reduced inflow of European workers following Brexit.
Nigeria emerged as one of the top three source countries for migrant care workers during this period, alongside other major labour-exporting nations.
In 2023 alone, the UK granted 146,000 Health and Care Worker visas to applicants of all nationalities, making it the most utilised skilled worker route.
Policy Change Reverses Trend
However, the upward trend began to reverse towards the end of 2023 following a series of policy changes by the UK Home Office aimed at tightening immigration controls.
The data shows that work visa grants to Nigerians dropped significantly from 28,495 in 2023 to just 2,851 across the entirety of 2025.
In the last quarter of 2024, only 769 visas were granted to Nigerians.
This was followed by 895, 926, 593 and 437 visas across the four quarters of 2025, and a further drop to 395 in the first quarter of 2026.
The sharp decline coincided with sweeping reforms introduced by the UK government in 2024.
The Home Office also intensified enforcement actions against non-compliant employers in the care sector, leading to the revocation of licences and a reduction in the number of available sponsorship opportunities.
As a result, Health and Care Worker visa applications, which had peaked at about 18,300 per month in August 2023, dropped dramatically to approximately 2,400 by March 2024.
Despite the downturn, Nigeria remained the leading African country in terms of work visa grants to the UK over the period.
Zimbabwe ranked second with 35,242 grants, followed by Ghana with 20,649, South Africa with 12,018 and Kenya with 6,520.
Other African countries on the list included Egypt with 4,848 grants, Uganda with 2,480, Cameroon with 2,122, Morocco with 2,012 and Zambia with 1,826.
Collectively, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Ghana accounted for 105,389 of the 144,364 work visa grants issued to African nationals, representing approximately 73 per cent of the continent’s total.
On a global scale, the UK issued 666,442 occupation-based work visa grants between 2021 and the first quarter of 2024. Of this figure, African nationals received 144,364, representing 21.7 per cent.
India ranked as the top source country globally with 169,286 visas, accounting for 25.4 per cent of all grants. Nigeria followed with 49,498, representing 7.4 per cent of the global total.
Other countries in the global top ten included Zimbabwe, Ukraine, the Philippines, Pakistan, Ghana, the United States, Kyrgyzstan and Bangladesh, reflecting the diverse origins of the UK’s migrant workforce.
The prominence of Nigerian health workers in the UK labour market has, however, raised concerns given Nigeria’s inclusion on the World Health Organisation’s red list of countries facing critical shortages of healthcare personnel.
The continued migration of health professionals has contributed to concerns about brain drain and its implications for Nigeria’s already strained healthcare system.
In a related development, UK Home Office data also shows that Nigerians have faced a significant number of visa refusals over the years.
Between 2005 and the first quarter of 2026, the UK rejected at least 1.34 million visa applications from Nigerians, making the country the second-highest source of visa refusals globally after India.
The figures indicate that Nigeria accounted for 15.2 per cent of the 8.83 million visa refusals recorded worldwide during the period.
Despite the high rejection rate, Nigerians were still granted 2,723,558 visas over the same 21-year period, ranking third globally behind India and China.
Overall, about 4.09 million visa applications were submitted by Nigerians during the period, with over 4.06 million receiving final decisions.
Nigeria’s cumulative visa refusal rate stood at 33.1 per cent, more than double the UK’s global average of 14.8 per cent, highlighting persistent challenges faced by applicants.
The latest figures highlight both the opportunities and constraints shaping migration patterns between Nigeria and the United Kingdom, particularly as policy shifts continue to redefine access to overseas employment for Nigerian workers.
