Chapter 2 - Personnel
                   
Table 2.27 Military salaries1: illustrative rates and indices (1990/91=100)
Indices are based on average daily rates of pay during the year. All indices are calculated using standard rank weights taken at 1 March 2008. These have been updated since the previous UKDS (2007), which used rank weights taken at 1 May 2005. Since the underlying rank weights are constant, the changes in the indices purely reflect changes in pay. The discontinuity indicated between 1990/1991 and 2003/04 actually refers specifically to a discontinuity between 2000/01 and 2001/02, and is due to the introduction of a new pay system, Pay 2000. The resulting changes to the structure of military salaries meant that individual pay rates could not be tracked over this period. Therefore, pay level weights within rank groups differ prior to 2001/02.
1990/91 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09
                   
Military salaries Index: all ranks2 100 II 188 193 199 205 213 221
                 
Senior officers (Major General and above) 100 II 188 194 201 208 214 221
Officers (up to Brigadier) 100 II 184 190 195 201 208 217
Other ranks (Sergeant and above) 100 II 194 200 206 212 219 227
Other ranks (up to corporal) 100 II 186 192 198 204 212 219
 
Illustrative rates3 of annual military salary (in terms of Army ranks)
Pay 2000 Pay System4 Pounds Sterling
General Level 4 ..   131,980 135,675 143,673 152,728 160,625 164,159
Brigadier Level 5 ..   79,557 81,563 84,008 86,527 89,444 96,288
Colonel Level 1 ..   63,614 65,218 67,175 69,189 71,522 77,545
Lieutenant Colonel Level 9 ..   60,723 62,254 64,123 66,047 68,273 74,023
                   
Major Level 9 ..   46,874 48,056 49,498 50,983 52,702 54,551
Captain Level 3 ..   32,746 33,573 34,580 35,617 36,817 38,109
Lieutenant Level 8 ..   25,525 26,167 26,952 27,762 28,698 29,704
2nd Lieutenant Level 5 ..   20,174 20,681 21,301 21,940 22,680 23,475
                   
Warrant Officer I Level 7 H ..   38,313 39,278 40,457 41,672 43,077 44,588
Warrant Officer II Level 9 H ..   35,443 36,336 37,427 38,551 39,851 41,249
Staff Sergeant Level 7 L ..   31,352 32,142 33,106 34,098 35,248 36,484
Sergeant Level 7 H ..   30,261 31,025 31,956 32,916 34,025 35,219
                   
Corporal Level 7 H ..   27,194 27,879 28,715 29,576 30,573 31,646
Lance Corporal Level 9 H ..   23,717 24,313 25,043 25,794 26,664 27,599
Private Level 1 L ..   13,081 13,461 13,866 14,323 15,677 16,227
Source: DASA (Quad-Sevice)
 

1.    Data are for UK Regular Forces which includes all trained and untrained personnel. Gurkhas, Full Time Reserve personnel, and mobilised reservists are excluded.
2.    Equivalent ranks in the Naval Service and Royal Air Force are shown in Table 2.28.

3.    The illustrative rates of annual military salary are calculated using the Pay Review Bodies' figures for the appropriate year. The rate shown for each rank is the pay level with the largest number of people at 1 March 2008.

4.    In the course of 2001/02, Pay 2000 was introduced for officers and other ranks. For other ranks this involved the introduction of Higher (H) and Lower (L) incremental pay ranges to which personnel are assigned in accordance with their trade. This replaced the old spot rate system with length of service increments, where other ranks would remain on the same pay point unless, or until, they were promoted. Under the new system personnel progress annually subject to satisfactory performance.