Media Release | New Zealand’s medical workforce continues to grow and change

New Zealand’s medical workforce has grown to 21,097 practising doctors, with the latest Medical Council workforce report also showing changes in who makes up the profession, where doctors are working and how long they stay in New Zealand.

Te Kaunihera Rata o Aotearoa | Medical Council of New Zealand has today published The 2026 New Zealand Medical Workforce Survey Report , its annual look at the size and make-up of the medical workforce.

The number of practising doctors increased by 2.8 percent over the past year, from 20,530 to 21,097. Over the past five years, the workforce has grown by 15.6 percent, from 18,247 doctors in 2021. The medical workforce continues to grow faster than New Zealand’s population.

Council Chair Dr Kenneth Clark says the report brings together Council’s registration data and that provided by doctors when applying for their annual practising certificate to show how the workforce is changing over time. This provides important information to all those involved in medical education and workforce planning.

“Knowing who is in our medical workforce, where they are working and how long they stay gives us a much better understanding of the workforce New Zealand is relying on.

“We continue to see growth in the number of practising doctors. We are also seeing changes in the make-up of the profession, including a younger Māori and Pacific medical workforce, more women in medicine and growth across a number of vocational areas.”

Māori and Pacific medical workforces continue to grow. The number of Māori doctors increased from 1,053 in 2025 to 1,125 in 2026, from 5.5 percent to 5.8 percent of the workforce. The number of Pacific doctors increased from 519 to 548, from 2.7 percent to 2.8 percent. Both workforces also have a younger age profile, with half of Māori doctors and 46.2 percent of Pacific doctors aged 34 or younger.

Doctors identifying as female now make up the majority of doctors on the medical register. Women also make up a growing share of different parts of the workforce, including 56.2 percent of doctors in vocational training.

The report also shows continued growth in vocational registration. The number of practising doctors registered in a vocational scope increased by 14.6 percent between 2021 and 2026 from 10,713 to 12,278 doctors. Over the same period, the number of doctors registered in the vocational scope of urgent care increased by 34.7 percent, diagnostic radiology by 28 percent and emergency medicine by 27.5 percent. General practice remained the largest vocational scope, with 4,144 doctors in 2026, an increase of 8.1 percent since 2021.

Retention of New Zealand medical graduates remains high. On average, 99 percent remain in New Zealand one year after registration, just under 95 percent after two years and 88 percent after three years.

International medical graduates also continue to play an important role. They make up 42.4 percent of doctors who responded to the workforce survey and 43.7 percent of doctors on the medical register. Retention of IMGs remains lower than for New Zealand graduates. Just over 40 percent of IMGs leave New Zealand after one year and around 60 percent have left after two years, although retention has improved for more recent cohorts. Three-year retention was 44.4 percent for IMGs who registered between 2021 and 2025, compared with 36.8 percent for the 2016 to 2020 cohort.  Their contribution is particularly evident outside the larger centres. In Whanganui, 65.8 percent of doctors are IMGs, followed by South Canterbury at 63 percent and Wairarapa at 55.5 percent.

Dr Clark says the information in the report is intended to be useful across the health sector.

“The value of this report is being able to look across the workforce and see how it is changing, including differences between regions and areas of practice.

“We thank doctors for providing this information each year. It gives Council and others across the health system a useful evidence base for workforce planning and decisions.”

The annual workforce survey is completed as part of the practising certificate renewal process. For the 2025/26 survey, 20,352 of the 20,912 doctors asked to take part responded, a response rate of 97.3 percent.

Read The 2026 New Zealand Medical Workforce Survey Report  
Explore Council’s workforce data dashboard

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