Between April 2024 and March this year, the number of childminders registered with the inspectorate fell 5% to 25,300, the inspectorate's annual data shows.
The decline is higher than the previous year, which saw numbers fall 4% and warnings of an "exodus" from the sector.
The number of childminders has more than halved in the past decade from a high of 56,000 in 2013, as a result of rising costs and onerous administration.
The figures will be disappointing to the Department for Education which has introduced several measures in recent years to encourage more people into childminding.
In 2023, the then government introduced grants of £600 for new and returning childminders who registered with Ofsted, with a £1,200 grant for those who sign up with a childminder agency.
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