Statistics for the first quarter of 2021, up until the end of March, show that the number of childcare providers registered with Ofsted has fallen by 3,300 to 72,000 since 31 August 2020.
This continues an ongoing decline, particularly among childminder numbers.
Between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021, there was a net overall decrease of around 3,000 providers. This was slightly above the average across the last six years, Ofsted said.
The figures show that the drop has been driven by a fall in childminders, with a loss of 1,800, or 5 per cent, since 31 August.
Childminder numbers have fallen by 27 per cent since August 2015, with the number of providers overall falling by 17 per cent (15,100) over the same time period.
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