The annual retention fee has been cut from £420 to £390 for doctors holding registration with a licence to practise. For doctors on the register without a licence to practice the annual retention fee will be reduced from £145 to £140, the GMC said.

The threshold for qualifying for a 50% reduction in annual retention fees has also been raised with any doctor with a total gross annual world-wide income less than £30,000 now receiving the discount. Previously this was set at £26,000.

The reduction in fees, which will come into effect from 1 April 2012, has been introduced after the GMC made efficiency savings of more than £8m in 2011.

GMC chief executive Niall Dickson said it is important to pass on the efficiency savings to individual doctors.

He said: ‘We have a responsibility to provide value for money and, as far as we can, to control out costs. Last year we were able to freeze the annual fee paid by all doctors and cut the fee paid by newly qualified doctors.

‘As a result of further efficiencies achieved across the organisation, we were able this year to pass on savings to all doctors.’