Accredited official statistics

Quarterly service personnel statistics 1 April 2020

Updated 17 December 2020

This publication provides information on the number of Military Personnel (defined as the strength), joining (intake) and leaving (outflow) the UK Armed Forces. Detail is provided for both the Full-time Armed Forces and Reserves. Further statistics can be found in the Excel tables, .

The recent trends in personnel numbers in this report relate to the targets outlined in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) 2015 and the Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) programme. Prior to SDSR 2015, publications reported against SDSR 2010, the Three Month Exercise (3ME), Army 2020 and the Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) programme.

Some of the statistics previously published in the following publications can now be found in this release:

• Monthly Personnel Report
• Quarterly Personnel Report
• Annual Personnel Report
• UK Reserve Forces and Cadets
• Service Personnel Bulletin 2.01
• Service and Civilian Bulletin 2.03

Key Points and Trends

	▲193,980	Strength of UK Forces Service Personnel at 1 April 2020 an increase of 1,820 (0.9 per cent) since 1 April 2019
	▼132,450	Full-time Trained Strength (RN/RM) and Full-time Trade Trained Strength (Army) at 1 April 2020 a decrease of 1,850 (1.4 per cent) since 1 April 2019
	▲8.4%	Deficit against the planned number of personnel needed (Workforce Requirement) at 1 April 2020 an increase in the deficit from 7.0 per cent as at 1 April 2019
	▲32,920	Strength of the Trained Future Reserves 2020 at 1 April 2020 an increase of 360 (1.1 per cent) since 1 April 2019
	▲16,340	People joined the UK Regular Armed Forces in the past 12 months (1 April 2019 - 31 March 2020) an increase of 3,860 (30.9 per cent) compared with the previous 12 month period
	▼15,460	People left the UK Regular Armed Forces in the past 12 months (1 April 2019 - 31 March 2020) an increase 820 (5.6 per cent) compared with the previous 12 month period
	▼6,090	People joined the Future Reserves 2020 in the past 12 months (1 April 2019 - 31 March 2020) an increase of 1,080 (21.5 per cent) compared with the previous 12 month period
	▼5,490	People left the Future Reserves 2020 in the past 12 months (1 April 2019 - 31 March 202) an increase of 620 (12.7 per cent) compared with the previous 12 month period

Responsible Statistician: Tri-Service Head of Branch

Telephone: 020 7807 8896

Email: Analysis-Tri-Hd@mod.gov.uk

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Background Quality Report: Background Quality Report

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Introduction

This publication contains information on the strength, intake and outflow for the UK Armed Forces overall and each of the Services; Royal Navy/Royal Marines (RN/RM), Army and Royal Air Force (RAF).

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) announced on 29 June 2016 that it was changing the Army trained, disciplined manpower by changing the definition of Trained Strength to include those in the Army who have completed Phase 1 training. This affects some Tri-Service totals. This does not affect the Naval Service or the RAF in any way. The MOD held a public consultation on SDSR Resilience: Trained strength definition for the Army and resultant changes to Ministry of Defence Armed Forces personnel statistics, between 11 July and 21 January 2017. A consultation response was published on 7 November 2016. The changes outlined in the consultation and response have been incorporated into this publication from the 1 October 2016 edition onwards. This affects statistics in some of the accompanying Excel tables (), specifically tables: 3a, 3e, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b and 7c. Terminology has also been updated in Excel tables 3c and 4.

Detailed statistics, including unrounded figures, and historic time series can be found in the Excel tables (). These include quarterly statistics on the number of Service and Civilian Personnel, Separated Service (the proportion of personnel breaching harmony guidelines), Applications to each of the Services and Military Salaries. Further historic statistics will be added in due course; in the meantime, historic statistics can be found in the following archived publications:

• Monthly Personnel Report
• Quarterly Personnel Report
• Annual Personnel Report
• UK Reserve Forces and Cadets
• Service Personnel Bulletin 2.01
• Service and Civilian Bulletin 2.03
• UK Armed Forces Maternity Report
• Diversity Dashboard
• Quarterly Location Statistics

The glossary contains definitions of terminology used in this publication.

A calendar of upcoming MOD statistical releases can be found on GOV.UK

A National Statistics publication

The United Kingdom Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National Statistics, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Designation can be broadly interpreted to mean that the statistics:

• meet identified user needs
• are well explained and readily accessible
• are produced according to sound methods
• are managed impartially and objectively in the public interest

Once statistics have been designated as National Statistics it is a statutory requirement that the Code of Practice shall continue to be observed.

Policy Background

The main factors affecting decisions about the size of the Armed Forces required by the MOD to achieve success in its military tasks include:

• An assessment of current and future threats to UK national security
• The need for contingent / reactive capability - the requirement to be able to respond immediately to domestic or international crisis
• Current operational and international obligations (e.g. NATO, UN)
• Changes in technology, the introduction of new equipment and restructuring that leads to equipment becoming obsolete or surplus to requirements;
• The need to deliver against the military tasks as efficiently as possible, maintaining a balanced, affordable defence budget.

The Service personnel statistics in this publication are reported against the SDSR 2015, released in November 2015. Prior to SDSR 2015, publications reported against the planned Future Force 2020, as set out in the SDSR 2010 which planned to reduce the size of the Armed Forces.

Army Trained Strength

On 29 June 2016, the MOD announced that the Army planned to use Regular and Reserve Phase 1 trained personnel in response to crises within the UK. Following this, the term ‘Trained Strength’ would include all Army personnel trained in the core function of their Service (i.e. those who have completed Phase 1 training). The MOD has consulted on these changes and the resultant impact they will have on this publication and a consultation response was published on 7 October 2016.

From the 1 October 2016 edition onwards, Army personnel who have completed Phase 1 training (basic Service training) but not Phase 2 training (trade training), are considered trained personnel. This change will enable the Army to meet the SDSR 15 commitment to improve support to UK resilience. The Trained Strength definition for the Royal Navy, RAF, Maritime Reserve and RAF Reserves has not changed, reflecting the requirement for their personnel to complete Phase 2 training to be able to fulfil the core function of their respective Services.

Army personnel who have completed Phase 2 training are now called ‘Trade Trained’. This population aligns with the old definition of trained personnel, therefore maintaining the continuity of the statistical time series, and will continue to be counted against the workforce requirement and SDSR target for 2020.

The Army have undertaken a review of training requirements and Royal Engineers Other Ranks personnel joining from 1 July 2019 will become Trade Trained after Initial Trade Training (ITT) and will join the Full-time Trade Trained Strength (FTTTS), and therefore we may see a change in the trend.

Full-Time Armed Forces Personnel

In order to meet the manpower reduction targets set out in SDSR 2010, the Three Month Exercise (3ME) and Army 2020, a redundancy programme coupled with adjusted recruiting (intake) and contract extensions, were set. The redundancy programme is now complete.

On 23 November 2015, the MOD published SDSR 2015. SDSR 2015 outlines plans to uplift the size of the Regular Armed Forces, setting targets for a strength of 82,000 for the Army, and increasing the Royal Navy/Royal Marines and Royal Air Force by a total of 700 personnel. The SDSR 2015 Defence Key Facts booklet announced new targets for 2020 for each of the Services.

Future Reserves 2020 Programme

The Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) programme aims to increase the size of the Reserve Forces. Further information on the growth of the Reserves can be found in the Policy Background section of previous Monthly Service Personnel Statistics publications.

As a result of the changes to Army Trained Strength (referred to above) and their impact on the Army Reserve, the MOD released a Written Ministerial Statement containing revised FR20 strength growth profiles on 8 November 2016. Reporting of the growth of the Reserves will be based on strength profiles only.

At the time of this statistical release, there has been no formal announcement of new targets beyond 31 March 2019. However, the Ministry of Defence’s recruitment campaign is a long-term programme and numbers continue to grow.

UK Service Personnel

Application data since 1 October 2017 has not been available. We are currently verifying recently received information and relevant figures will be included in later editions of this publication.

Strength is the number of personnel.

UK Regulars are full-time Service personnel, including Nursing Services, excluding FTRS personnel, Gurkhas, mobilised Reservists, Military Provost Guarding Service, Locally Engaged Personnel, and Non-Regular Permanent Service.

Volunteer Reserves voluntarily accept an annual training commitment and are liable to be mobilised to deploy on operations. They can be utilised on a part-time or full-time basis to provide support to the Regular Forces at home and overseas.

UK Service Personnel comprise the total strength of the military personnel employed by the Ministry of Defence (Excel tables , Table 1). The current strength of the UK Service Personnel is 193,980, which includes:

• All UK Regular personnel and all Gurkha personnel (which at 1 April 2020 comprised 76.9 per cent of UK Service Personnel)
• Volunteer Reserve personnel (which at 1 April 2020 comprised 19.1 per cent of UK Service Personnel)
• Other personnel including the Serving Regular Reserve, Sponsored Reserve, Military Provost Guard Service, Locally Engaged Personnel and elements of the Full-time Reserve Service (FTRS) (which at 1 April 2020 comprised 4.0 per cent of UK Service Personnel).

The total strength of the UK Forces has decreased between 1 April 2019 and 1 April 2020 by 0.9 per cent (1,820 personnel) as shown in Table 1.Since 1 April 2019, the total strength of the UK Regular Forces, Gurkhas, Volunteer Reserves and Other Personnel have all increased.

Table 1: Trends in UK Forces Strength

	01-Apr-17	01-Apr-18	01-Apr-19	01-Oct-19	01-Jan-20	01-Apr-20	% Change since 1 Apr 19
UK Forces Personnel	197,040	194,110	192,160	192,660	192,160	193,980	0.9%
UK Regular Forces	149,370	146,560	144,430	144,650	144,030	145,320	0.6%
Gurkhas	2,990	3,150	3,430	3,380	3,370	3,760	9.6%
Volunteer Reserve	36,460	36,480	36,500	36,830	36,940	37,760	1.5%
Other Personnel	8,220	7,960	7,800	7,790	7,830	7,840	0.6%
Royal Navy / Royal Marines	38,450	38,450	38,790	38,900	38,980	39,050	0.7%
UK Regular Forces	32,540	32,480	32,540	32,600	32,640	32,760	0.7%
Volunteer Reserve	3,560	3,600	3,850	3,910	3,920	3,870	0.5%
Other Personnel	2,350	2,370	2,400	2,390	2,420	2,420	1.0%
Army	121,540	118,580	116,230	116,730	116,030	117,560	1.1%
UK Regular Forces	83,560	81,120	79,030	79,330	78,620	79,620	0.8%
Gurkhas	2,990	3,150	3,430	3,380	3,370	3,760	9.6%
Volunteer Reserve	30,180	29,900	29,560	29,840	29,860	29,980	1.4%
Other Personnel	4,810	4,410	4,200	4,180	4,180	4,200	0.0%
Royal Air Force	37,050	37,080	37,150	37,030	37,150	37,370	0.6%
UK Regular Forces	33,260	32,960	32,860	32,720	32,770	32,940	0.2%
Volunteer Reserve	2,730	2,980	3,080	3,090	3,160	3,200	4.0%
Other Personnel	1,060	1,170	1,200	1,220	1,220	1,220	1.7%

Full-Time Trained Strength (RN/RM & RAF) and Full-Time Trade Trained Strength (Army) and Workforce Requirement

The Full-time Trained Strength (FTTS) (RN/RM & RAF) and Full-time Trade Trained Strength (FTTTS) (Army) (which comprises military personnel who have completed both ‘Phase 1’ and ‘Phase 2’ training) is counted against the Workforce Requirement. The difference between the two is measured as either a surplus or deficit. This is one indicator of the Service’s ability to execute military tasks. Other indicators include the surplus / deficit within key trades or in specific Ranks.

The Tri-Service FTTS (RN/RM & RAF) and FTTTS (Army) has decreased by 1.4 per cent (1,850 personnel) between 1 April 2019 and 1 April 2020. The FTTS (RN/RM & RAF) and FTTTS (Army) comprises: 128,620 Regular personnel (97.1 per cent), 3,140 Gurkhas (2.4 per cent); and 700 Full-time Reserve Service personnel (0.5 per cent) who are filling Regular posts and count against the Workforce Requirement.

Table 2: FTTS (RN/RM & RAF) and FTTTS (Army) against Workforce Requirement

	01-Apr-17	01-Apr-18	01-Apr-19	01-Oct-19	01-Jan-20	01-Apr-20	SDSR 2015 Targets for 2020
FTTS (RN/RM & RAF) and FTTTS (Army)	138,840	136,770	134,300	132,340	132,360	132,450
Workforce Requirement	145,300	145,570	144,420	144,500	144,530	144,570	144,200
% Surplus/Deficit	-4.4%	-6.0%	-7.0%	-8.4%	-8.4%	-8.4%
RN/RM FTTS	29,580	29,300	29,220	29,010	28,890	29,040
Workforce Requirement	30,250	30,450	30,580	30,620	30,630	30,650	30,450
% Surplus/Deficit	-2.2%	-3.8%	-4.4%	-5.2%	-5.7%	-5.2%
Army FTTTS	78,410	77,120	75,070	73,470	73,670	73,720
Workforce Requirement	82,640	82,650	82,020	82,030	82,030	82,040	82,000
% Surplus/Deficit	-5.1%	-6.7%	-8.5%	-10.4%	-10.2%	-10.1%
RAF FTTS	30,850	30,350	30,010	29,860	29,800	29,690
Workforce Requirement	32,410	32,480	31,820	31,860	31,870	31,890	31,750
% Surplus/Deficit	-4.8%	-6.5%	-5.7%	-6.3%	-6.5%	-6.9%

The current deficit against the Workforce Requirement is 8.4 per cent for the UK Armed Forces. There is a deficit of 5.2 per cent, 10.1 per cent and 6.9 per cent in the Royal Navy/Royal Marines (RN/RM), the Army and the Royal Air Force (RAF) respectively, as can be seen in Table 2. All three services are therefore below their SDSR 15 targets.

Full-time Trained Strength (RN/RM & RAF) and Full-time Trade Trained Strength (Army) includes all UK Regular personnel, Gurkhas and those elements of the Full-time Reserve Service (FTRS) who are counted against the workforce requirement (see glossary for more detail).

Workforce Requirement is the number of Service personnel needed, based on the Defence Planning Round, set for each of the three Services.

Full-Time Trained and Trade-Trained Strength (Army)

Table 3: Comparison of Full-Time Trained and Trade-Trained Strengths (Army)

	01-Apr-19	01-Jul-19	01-Oct-19	01-Jan-20	01-Apr-20
Full-Time Trained Strength	78,340	78,390	78,700	78,870	79,010
of which Trade Trained	75,070	74,440	73,470	73,670	73,720

As can be seen from Figure 2, Army trained strength (FTTS) fell consistently between October 2016 and April 2019. This trend has now changed due to an increase in recruitment, which has fed into an increase in the number of recruits completing Phase 1 Training. Since October 2019, this increase has now fed into an increase into the Trade Trained (FTTTS) strength.

Table 4: Army Officers and Other Ranks by Training Status

	01-Apr-17	01-Apr-18	01-Apr-19	01-Oct-19	01-Jan-20	01-Apr-20
Trained Officers	12,260	12,400	12,490	12,640	12,660	12,520
Trade Trained Officers	12,020	12,110	12,130	12,170	12,080	12,130
Trained Other Ranks	70,390	68,750	65,850	66,060	66,200	66,490
Trade Trained Other Ranks	66,390	65,010	62,940	61,300	61,580	61,590

Since 1 April 2017, the strength of the trained and trade trained Officers has remained fairly stable. However, the strength of trained and trade trained Other Ranks has decreased by 5.5 per cent and 7.2 per cent respectively, as can be inferred from Table 4 above. Due to the relatively large size of the Other Ranks population compared to the Officers, the decrease in Other Ranks strength has lead to the overall decrease in FTTS and FTTTS strength over the same period, as seen in Figure 2 and Table 4. This trend has reversed since 1 October 2019 and has stabilised.

UK Regular Personnel (excluding Gurkhas)

As at 1 April 2020, the Trained and Untrained Strength of the UK Regular Forces (which excludes Gurkhas) was 145,320. The Service split for this figure can be found in Table 4 below.

There are 12,030 untrained personnel in the UK Regular Forces (excluding Gurkhas), of which 4,040 are in the RN/RM, 4,690 in the Army and 3,300 are in the RAF. The Untrained Strength reflects the number of personnel who can potentially join the Trained Strength.

Table 5: UK Regular Forces by Service and Training Status

	01-Apr-19		01-Apr-20
RN/RM	32,540		32,760
of which Trained	28,850	88.7%	28,720	87.7%
Army	79,030		79,620
of which Trained	75,000	94.9%	75,370	94.7%
of which Trade Trained	71,870	90.9%	70,260	88.2%
RAF	32,860		32,940
of which Trained	29,980	91.2%	29,640	90.0%

Intake and Outflow

In the 12 months to 31 March 2020 there was a net intake of 890 personnel to the UK Regular Forces. This is in contrast to a net outflow of 2,150 in the 12 months to 31 March 2019. This is mainly driven by an increase in intake to Army Regulars, which has increased by 45.5 per cent. In the 12 months to January 2020 intake outstripped outflow for the first time since June 2010.

Intake

• Intake into the trained and untrained UK Regular Forces was 16,340 in the 12 months to 31 March 2020. This has increased from 12,480 in the 12 months to 31 March 2019.
• Compared to the 12 months to 31 March 2019, intake to the RN/RM, Army and RAF has increased by 13.4 per cent, 45.5 per cent and 11.1 per cent respectively.

Outflow

Voluntary Outflow (VO) encompasses all trained (RN/RM & RAF) and Trade Trained (Army) personnel who voluntarily exit before the end of their agreed engagement or commission period.

Time Expiry is a term used to describe those in the Armed Services who reach the end of their engagement or commission and then leave.

Other includes outflow from the trained (RN/RM & RAF) and trade trained (Army) strength due to, amongst others, medical reasons, misconduct, compassionate, dismissals and death.

VO Rate is the number of personnel voluntarily outflowing as a proportion of the average Trained Strength for the outflow period.

• Outflow from the trained and untrained UK Regular Forces was 15,460 in the 12 months to 31 March 2020; up from 14,630 in the 12 months to 31 March 2019.

• Across all Services, VO was the most common reason for outflow of Trained and Trade-Trained personnel, accounting for 62.5 per cent of outflow in the 12 months to 31 March 2020.

• In the 12 months to 31 March 2020, 7,380 trained (RN/RM & RAF) and trade trained (Army) personnel left through VO; the VO rate was 5.7 per cent. The VO Rate for the RN/RM and RAF was equivalent at 5.0 per cent, it was higher for the Army, at 6.4 per cent.

• In the 12 months to 31 March 2020, the VO rate amongst Other Ranks was 6.0 per cent, this is higher than the VO rate for Officers which was 4.4 per cent.

There is no single reason why personnel leave on Voluntary Outflow, but the personnel who completed the Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey indicated reasons for leaving the Armed Forces included the impact of Service life on family and personal life and opportunities outside the Armed Forces.

Gains to Trained Strength (GTS) figures comprise all Regular personnel who complete Phase 2 training and those that enter directly into the Phase 2 trained strength. It excludes those returning to the Phase 2 trained strength from Long Term Absence (LTA).

Trained Outflow figures show Phase 2 trained outflow from UK Regular Forces, including personnel leaving the Services, deaths and recalled reservists on release. They do not include promotion from Ranks to Officers or flows between Services.

Gains to Trained Strength and Trained Outflow In the 12 months to 31 March 2020, there was a net loss of trained strength of 1,690 personnel from the UK Regular Forces. This is 26.0 per cent lower than the 12 months to 31 March 2019 (2,280).

• Trained direct entrants in the 12 months to 31 March 2020 was 630. This is an increase of 8.9% from the 12 months to 31 March 2019.
• Personnel completing Phase 2 training in the 12 months to 31 March 2020 was 9,480. This has increased by 20 when com-pared against the previous 12 month period (9,450).
• Compared to the 12 months to 31 March 2019, gains to trained strength for the RN/RM decreased by 4.3 per cent for the 12 months to 31 March 2020. Gains to trade trained strength for Army and gains to trained strength for the RAF have increased by 3.2 per cent and 0.4 per cent when compared against the same period.
• Trained outflow from the RN/RM and Army, in the 12 months ending 31 March 2020, has decreased by 2.8 per cent and 6.0 per cent respectively against the previous 12 months. However, for the RAF, trained outflow increased by 0.4% when compared against the same period.

Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) Programme Monitoring

Future Reserves 2020 includes Volunteer Reserves who are mobilised, High Readiness Reserves and those Volunteer Reserves serving on Full-time Reserve Service (FTRS) and Additional Duties Commitment (ADC). Sponsored Reserves who provide a more cost effective solution than Volunteer Reserves are also included in the Army Reserve FR20.

Following consultation on changes to the Army Trained Strength definition and the removal of the FR20 intake targets, the MOD released Future Reserves 2020 Trained Strength growth profiles in a Written Ministerial Statement on 8 November 2016. Reporting of the growth of the Reserves will be based on Trained Strength profiles only.

Future Reserves 2020 Strength

Following this, progress against FR20 population Trained Strength targets are reported in Table 6a of the Excel tables, . The total Trained and Untrained Strength of the Tri-Service Future Reserves 2020 at 1 April 2020 was 37,010, an increase of 610 personnel or 1.7 per cent since 1 April 2019.

Maritime Reserve

The Maritime Reserve total strength as at 1 April 2020 was 3,870. This is an increase of 20 personnel (0.5 per cent) since 1 April 2019. Figure 6 shows that the Maritime Reserve Trained Strength was 2,870 as at 1 April 2020. This is an increase of 50 personnel (1.6 per cent) since 1 April 2019.

Army Reserve

The Army Reserve total strength as at 1 April 2020 was 29,930. This is an increase of 460 personnel (1.6 per cent) since 1 April 2019. Figure 7 shows that the Army Reserve Trained Strength was 27,300 as at 1 April 2020. This is an increase of 230 (0.9 per cent) since 1 April The Army Reserve total strength as at 1 April 2019.

RAF Reserve

The RAF Reserves total strength as at 1 April 2020 was 3,200. This is an increase of 120 personnel (4.0 per cent) since 1 April 2019. Figure 8 shows that as at 1 April 2020 the RAF Reserves Trained Strength was 2,740. This is an increase of 80 personnel (3.2 per cent) since 1 April 2019.

FR20 Intake and Outflow statistics

Intake and outflow statistics report how many people have left or joined the Trained or Untrained Strengths. As well as leavers and new recruits, this can include personnel transferring to or from the Regular Forces, other Reserve populations, or Reserve re-joiners.

The total intake rates for each Service in the 12 months to 1 April 2020 are as follows:

• The Maritime Reserve total intake rate was 22.8 per cent; a decrease of 0.7 percentage points since the 12 months to 1 April 2019.
• The Army Reserve total intake rate was 15.3 per cent; an increase of 3.3 percentage points since the 12 months to 1 April 2019.
• The RAF Reserves total intake rate was 21.0 per cent; an increase of 1.3 percentage points since the 12 months to 1 April 2019.

The total outflow rates for each Service in the 12 months to 1 April 2020 are as follows:

• The Maritime Reserve total outflow rate was 22.3 per cent; an increase of 5.7 percentage points since the 12 months to 1 April 2019.
• The Army Reserve total outflow rate was 13.7 per cent; an increase of 0.9 percentage points since the 12 months to 1 April 2019.
• The RAF Reserves total outflow rate was 17.1 per cent; an increase of 1.8 percentage points since the 12 months to 1 April 2019.

Separated Service

Separated Service concerns personnel who are serving away from their usual place of duty or are unable to enjoy leisure at their place of duty or residence at place of duty.

Individual Harmony is the freedom to enjoy leisure at the normal place of duty or residence at place of duty; this includes leave and adventurous training.

Separated service measures absence from normal place of duty. The time an individual experiences separated service is compared against each Service’s “Individual Harmony” guidelines to ensure a balance between duty and leisure for all Service personnel.

A breach of individual harmony guidelines occurs when Service personnel experience separated service for longer than the period outlined in individual harmony guidelines, which are based on the structures and organisation of that Service. The guidelines are measured over a 36 month period and the limits are:

• 660 days away for the RN/RM
• 498 days for the Army
• 468 days away for the RAF.

Using 1 April 2019 as an example, the formula for the breach rate is as follows:

1. Count the number of Trained/Trade Trained UK Regular personnel breaching in the 36 months ending to 31 Mar 2017
2. Divide this by the Trained UK Regular strength as at 1 Apr 2017

The percentage breaching harmony has been on a downward trend. The recent increase in Army reflects increasing demands of operations and exercises, enabling support for Ex Saif Sareea 3 and Ex Trident Juncture.

Separated service data can be found in table 10 of the accompanying Excel tables, .

Further Information

Symbols

Symbol	Description
||	discontinuity in time series
*	not applicable
..	not available
-	zero
~	5 or fewer
p	Provisional
e	Estimate
r	Revised

Rounding

When rounding to the nearest 10, numbers ending in “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent the systematic bias of always rounding up to the nearest 10.

Where rounding has been used, totals and sub-totals have been rounded separately and so may not equal the sums of their rounded parts.

Revisions

Corrections to the published statistics will be made if errors are found, or if figures change as a result of improvements to methodology or changes to definitions. When making corrections, we will follow the Ministry of Defence Statistics Revisions and Corrections Policy. All corrected figures will be identified by the symbol “r” and an explanation will be given of the reason for and size of the revision. Corrections which would have a significant impact on the utility of the statistics will be corrected as soon as possible, by reissuing the publication. Minor errors will also be corrected, but for efficient use of resource these corrections may be timed to coincide with the next annual release of the publication.

There have been revisions to the number of Gains to Trained Strength at 31 December 2019 due to a processing error. This has affected Table 5b. There have also been revisions made to the number of Officers and Other Ranks in the Army FR20 personnel which has affected Table 6a. There have been revisions made to the number of Intake to Officers in the Army FR20 personnel due to a processing error. This has affected table 14b, by less then 5 personnel.

Contact Us

Defence Statistics welcome feedback on our statistical products. If you have any comments or questions about this publication or about our statistics in general, you can contact us as follows:

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