UK domiciliary care statistics

With an ageing population, growing pressure on NHS services, and hospitals short of beds, more people than ever rely on domiciliary care services in the UK. 

Clinical home care already saves the NHS around £1.6 billion a year — the equivalent of over 1.5 million bed days. That's a huge contribution, delivered person by person, visit by visit.

However, a 2025 report by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) points out that while home care provides a lifeline for many people living with long-term, chronic conditions, it’ll only work for the NHS if we “invest, modernise, and collaborate to improve the systems already in place.” 

This matters even more when you look at the bigger picture. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UK's over-65 population is set to rise from 19% to 27% in the next 50 years. 

Meeting their needs isn't just about more care – it's about better care. Digitising home care services will give workers clearer information, reduce admin, and help patients feel confident they're getting the right care for them.

Below, we’ve pulled together the latest UK domiciliary care statistics on market size, usage, workforce, recruitment, and more. And what they tell us us about the real pressures facing the sector today. 

Insurance is one way of managing the challenges you face as a domiciliary care provider. Take a look at how we can support you with advice and guidance on what you need. 

The UK domiciliary care market at a glance

• The UK has around 13,500 domiciliary care providers (over 12,000 are registered in England). 
• In 2024, the UK home care and domiciliary care industry was worth around £11.5 billion – up by around 12% since 2020. 
• Nearly 1 million people are estimated to receive publicly-funded domiciliary care across the UK. Roughly 640,000 of them live in England. 
• England’s domiciliary care industry employs approximately 595,000 people in total. With the latest UK-wide estimates at around 800,000. 
• Local authorities in England spend an average of £71 per adult on home care. This rises to £151 in Wales and £250 in Scotland. 
• 80% of home care is commissioned by the public sector, with the other 20% coming from private medical companies. 
• 20% of clinical home care in the UK is funded by the NHS. The remaining 80% is funded by pharmaceutical companies. 
• Domiciliary care job vacancies in England are at 9.9%. 

What’s the size of the UK domiciliary care market?

A 2025 report found that adult social care (which includes home care) contributes £77.8 billion to the economy in England – up by 12.2% since 2023/24. 

That means the domiciliary care industry (and the adult social care sector as a whole) contributes more to the economy than sectors like accommodation and food services. 

However, because statistics are gathered by nation, the exact size of the UK domiciliary care market is hard to gauge. 

The following domiciliary care statistics should be treated as an estimate. You can find more info on each nation’s home care regulatory body’s website. 

How many people use domiciliary care in the UK?

It’s thought around 960,000 people receive domiciliary care in the UK. These include patients who are ill, elderly, have long-term medical issues, or have been discharged from hospital care. 

While most people access domiciliary care through their local authority, almost a quarter (23.5%) pay for it themselves. 

Here are the numbers of people receiving domiciliary care by nation, according to recent estimates: 

Which home care services are most popular?

The number of Care Quality Commission-registered (CQC) domiciliary care services in England has continued to grow from 8,414 in 2017 to 15,232 in 2025 – an increase of 81%. By contrast, residential CQC-regulated establishments, like care homes, decreased by 6.2%. 

While many patients find domiciliary care to be a convenient option, many apply for it because either they – or their families – can’t afford the cost of living in a care home. Other social factors include long waiting lists for community care and the pressing need to free up NHS hospital beds. 

This tallies up with research by the ABPI, which shows an increased uptake of home care services led to less A&E visits and hospital admissions. The case study focused on a group of just over 1800 people, half of which received home care and half of which didn’t. 

During the study, they tracked A&E visits for the group. 419 of these visits were from people who weren’t receiving home care. The group receiving home care only accounted for 150. 

Hospital admissions followed a similar trend, with 452 being tracked for non-home care users and only 169 for those receiving home care. 

The Homecare Association highlighted long-term support living, or assisted living, as an area of growth, with around 100,000 now people receiving this kind of care through local authority funding in England. 

How many home care agencies are there in the UK?

There are over 13,000 domiciliary care providers registered in the UK. This includes home care agencies that are contracted directly by local authorities, as well as independent providers. 

Different types of domiciliary care providers include those who specialise in ‘hourly’ or ‘visiting’ home care, supported living, assisted living, or live-in care. 

Each provides domiciliary care under their country’s regulatory body eg the CQC in England or Care Inspectorate (CI) in Scotland. 

How many domiciliary care workers are there in the UK?

Around 700,000 people make up the UK’s domiciliary care workforce. Here's a rough breakdown, based on the most recently published data by each nation: 

What's recruitment like in the domiciliary care industry?

Unsurprisingly, the domiciliary care industry saw job vacancy rates rise significantly at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

However, since 2021, vacancy rates have steadily fallen. In 2022, they were at 12.9% and have continued to reduce to 9.9% in 2025. 

The industry’s employment turnover rate fell again in 2025, from 24.9% to 23.7%. It’s been dropping year on year since 2021 and is much lower than the high of 35.6% in 2018. 

This reduced turnover rate means that far less people have left their roles in domiciliary care over the past 12 months. In 2025, an estimated 128,000 workers left their role. This is much lower than the reported 390,000 in 2022. 

It’s not all good news, though. 74% of home care providers still cite recruitment difficulties as the main reason why they can’t meet the higher demand for their services. And that means one in ten posts are left unfilled. 

The nationality of workers recruited into the industry has continued to progress as forecasted as well, with the proportion of British workers falling to 64% in 2025. This coincides with an increase of non-EU workers from 25% to 31% this year, showing that the industry is increasingly looking to foreign recruits to fill vacancies. 

The industry is still predominantly staffed, around 78%, by people who identify as female. However, workers identifying as male have increased for the third consecutive year, reaching 22%. 

What are the biggest challenges for the home care industry?

Thanks to the increasing strain on NHS services and the UK’s aging population, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) predicts that 57% more adults aged 65 and over will need home care in 2038 compared to 2018. 

While this means the UK domiciliary care industry can expect healthy demand in the future, it’ll need to overcome the shortfalls in long-term public funding and recruitment that have hampered its growth. 

Delays are still causing problems in the industry. In March 2025, around 370,000 people were awaiting assessment, review, or the start of a care service. However, this is steadily declining from the peak of 542,000 in April 2022. 

Hospital discharges and assessments continue to be the biggest source of this backlog. 40% of adult social services directors reported that demands for their services in this area have increased by more than 10% in 2025. 

Mental health is another area causing strain on the system. 73% of adult social services directors reported an increase in care request and referrals in relation to mental health difficulties. 

The NHS is the biggest cause for concern in the home care industry, though. 100% of directors said increased NHS pressures are putting more of a burden on them. 94% also said this pressure will lead to them having to take on responsibility for services that the NHS would have previously delivered. 

Caring for your own

When you’re in the business of caring for others, it’s only right to think about caring for your business too. 

Legally, regulatory bodies like the CQC insist that all home care agencies who register with them have domiciliary care insurance. 

Besides that, having the right insurance puts your mind at ease. Our domiciliary care package provides cover for accusations of negligence and third-party accidental damage and, if you’re found at fault, will compensate your employees if they get sick or injured. 

As an agency supervisor or director, your own work is covered too, including the advice you give to your staff. 

For info or advice on domiciliary care insurance, just call our team on 0345 222 5391. 

Image used under license from iStock.