UK defence personnel statistics

On 1 April 2025 the total size of the full-time UK armed forces (trained and untrained) was around 147,300 personnel. Over half of personnel were within the Army (56%), with the remainder being split fairly equally between the Royal Navy/Royal Marines (RN/RM, 23%) and the Royal Air Force (RAF, 22%).

Trained strength

Personnel targets are based on the full-time trained strength of the RN/RM and the RAF, and the full-time trade-trained strength of the Army. The most recent targets were set in the 2021 Defence Command Paper.

All three branches of the UK armed forces are currently below their target size: the Army by 3%, the RN/RM by 8% and the RAF by 13%. Overall, the UK armed forces were 8,590 personnel (6%) below target.

The 2025 Strategic Defence Review recommended that there should be no further reductions in the number of regular personnel, and that personnel numbers should increase, “when funding allows”.

In a statement to the House of Commons, the Defence Secretary, John Healy, said “reversing the decline will take time”, but that the government was aiming to increase the Army to at least 76,000 full-time soldiers in the next Parliament.

Joiners and leavers

Between financial years 1999/00 and 2024/25, there have only been six years when the number of personnel joining the UK Regular Forces was higher than the number leaving.

In 2024/25 there was a fall in the overall number of personnel, with 1,140 more personnel leaving the force than joining it. This compares with a net decrease of 4,430 personnel the previous year.

Voluntary outflow is the most common exit reason for full-time trained personnel. In the 2024/25, 5.9% of trained personnel voluntary left the UK Regular Forces before the end of their agreed engagement or commission period. This is down from 6.4% the previous year.

The Ministry of Defence has said it is facing a “workforce crisis” as a result of continuing recruitment and retention issues.

Diversity

On 1 April 2025 there were 16,300 women in the UK Regular Forces, accounting for 11.9% of the total trained and untrained strength. The proportion of women in the Reserve Forces was higher at 15.9%.

In December 2021, the Government announced a new target for women to account for 30% of intake by 2030. In the year to 31 March 2025, women made up 10.5% of total intake to the UK Regular Forces.

Around 12.2% of personnel (16,590) self-identified as belonging to a minority ethnic group (compared to an estimated 19.5% of the UK working-age population). The Army had the highest proportion of minority ethnic personnel (17.6%), followed by the RN/RM (6.8%) and the RAF (4.5%).

There is currently no specific armed forces recruitment target for ethnic minorities. In the same period, 18.6% of total intake to the UK Regular Forces were from minority ethnic groups. This is up from 17.9% in the previous year, and almost double the proportion recruited in the year to 31 March 2023 (9.7%).

Reserves

The Future Reserves 2020 programme started under the Coalition Government (2010 to 2015) set out plans to expand the size of the trained element of the armed forces reserves, increase the circumstances in which they might be deployed, and better integrate the Reserve Forces with the Regular Forces.

Between October 2013 and April 2025, the trained strength of the armed forces reserve increased by 28% (from 22,880 to 29,200). However, only the RAF Reserve has achieved its target size. The total number of trained reserve personnel has declined in recent years, from a peak of 33,010 in July 2020.

The 2025 Strategic Defence Review recommended a 20% increase in the active reserve forces, “when funding allows”.

Location of personnel

On 1 April 2024, most personnel in the UK Regular Forces were stationed in the United Kingdom (around 96%).

Of the 5,700 personnel stationed overseas, around two thirds were in Europe (66%), while 14% were stationed in North America, 6% in North Africa and the Middle East, 6% in Asia and 5% in Sub-Saharan Africa.