Some 71,046 UK work visas were granted to foreign care workers and home carers in 2023-24, with nationals from India, Nigeria and Zimbabwe accounting for more than half of the total.
The number was up 76% from 40,333 on the previous 12 months, according to figures published by the Home Office.
Quarterly data shows a steep drop in the number of visas granted towards the end of 2023-24, however.
There were 29,452 issued in July-September 2023, 17,354 in October to December and just 2,814 in January to March 2024.
This decrease was due to a fall in applications for the visa and a higher proportion of applications being refused, the Home Office said.
The method used for classifying the different categories of work visa changed during 2024, meaning more recent Home Office data is incomplete.
There are no quarterly figures available for care worker and home carer visas granted in April-June or July-September 2024, though 1,665 were granted in October-December.
Of the 71,046 granted in 2023-24: 15,076 (21%) were for Indian nationals; with the next most common countries being Nigeria (13,418 or 19%); Zimbabwe (10,702 or 15%); Ghana (8,826 or 12%); and Bangladesh (7,097 or 10%).
The figures for October-December 2024 show India was again the most common nationality, accounting for 422 of the 1,665 visas granted (25%); followed by Zimbabwe (307 or 18%); the Philippines (178 or 11%); Pakistan (159 or 10%); and Nigeria (113 or 7%).
Care worker and home carers are one of the occupations covered by the health and care worker visa, which was launched in August 2020 to allow medical professionals to come to or stay in the UK to work.
Eligibility for the visa was expanded to include care workers in February 2022, in order to boost the social care workforce following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Separate Home Office figures show that 110,833 health and care work visas were issued in the calendar year 2024, down from 348,157 in 2023.
This sharp drop is “likely due to more scrutiny applied to employers in the health and social care sector, and compliance activity taken against employers of migrant workers,” the Home Office said.
It is also likely to reflect changes in legal migration rules introduced in early 2024 by the previous Conservative government, including a ban on overseas care workers bringing family dependants.
Of the 110,833 health and care worker visas issued last year, 27,174 were for main applicants and 83,659 for dependants.
