Jackie Smith, NMC chief executive said: “This is the first sign of a change following the EU referendum and it is our responsibility as the regulator to share these figures with the public.”

She said it was too early to “definitively” link the trends to Brexit.

Janet Davies, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “If this is the beginning of a long-term drop in the number of nurses coming to the UK from other parts of the EU, that’s a serious concern at a time when we’re already facing a crisis in nurse staffing numbers.”

“With 24,000 nursing vacancies across the UK, the NHS could not cope without the contribution from EU nurses. Without a guarantee that EU nationals working in the NHS can remain, it will be much harder to retain and recruit staff from the EU, and patient care will suffer as a result.”

Earlier this month, it emerged that almost every hospital in the UK has a shortage of nurses.

Staff said patients were being left unwashed, unmonitored and without crucial medications.

Mr Hunt has repeatedly said healthcare workers already working in Britain should be given assurances that they can stay, after Britain leaves the European Union.