More than 91 percent of the 210,000 nurses and midwives due to renew their registration have met the end of May deadline.

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency have urged nurses and midwives who failed to renew before the May 31 deadline to renew immediately.

"It is fantastic that a large number of nurses and midwives due to renew by May 31 have successfully renewed – but anyone who has not and who wants to keep practising must apply now or risk having their registration lapse," board chair Anne Copeland said.

Under the national law, nurses and midwives whose registration is due on May 31 remain registered until June 30, after which their registration lapses.

About 210,000 nurses and midwives were due to renew their registration by May 31 and a further 65,500 are due to renew by June 30. The ACT kicked off the staged renewal process with registrations due on April 1.

Past figures show, just five to 10 percent of nurses and midwives do not renew their registration on time each year, with some deliberately opting out of registration and a smaller number missing out.

"We have worked hard to try to make sure that the only practitioners who do not renew on time are those who have made a decision to opt out," AHPRA CEO Martin Fletcher said.