Chapter 2 - Personnel

Armed Forces Personnel Key Points and Trends

Strength and requirement

The total strength of the UK Regular Armed Forces has increased since 2008 (see Table 2.5).

  • The 1 April 2009 strength of the UK Regular Forces was 188,370, a 0.7% increase on the 187,060 serving at 1 April 2008. This reflects an increase in the untrained strength of the Army and RAF (see Table 2.5).


  • The surplus between strength and requirement of full-time trained Armed Forces officers has risen from 500 at 1 April 2008 to 620 at 1 April 2009. The deficit between strength and requirement of full-time trained Armed Forces other ranks has fallen from 5,810 at 1 April 2008 to 5,560 at 1 April 2009 (see Table 2.7).


    • Longer term:
  • At 1 April 2009 the total strength of the UK Regular Forces was 188,370, a decrease of 38.4% from the 1 April 1990 strength of 305,750 (see Table 2.5).


  • 80% of the total decrease in strength from 1990 to 2009 took place during the period 1990 to 1997 as the Armed Forces were restructured following the end of the Cold War (see Chart 2.5).


  • The requirement for the UK's full-time trained Armed Forces officers has decreased 5.8% from 30,730 in 2004 to 28,940 in 2009. The equivalent decrease for the other ranks is 8.9% from 164,620 in 2004 to 149,920 in 2009 (see Table 2.7).

Intake and outflow

Compared with 2007/08, more people joined the UK Regular Forces in 2008/09 and fewer people left.

  • Total intake during the financial year 2008/09 was 6.8% higher than 2007/08; 22,770 compared with 21,330 (see Table 2.17).


  • Outflow from UK Regular Forces during the financial year 2008/09 was 11.4% lower than in 2007/08; 21,880 compared with 24,690 (see Table 2.21).


  • Intake into the UK Regular Forces is greater than Outflow from UK Regular Forces for financial year 2008/09. This is the first time this has happened since 2003/04.


    • Longer term:
  • Intake and outflow figures over the time series presented reflect the drawdown in strength from 1990 to 1997 after the Cold War.


  • Intake from the civilian population into the UK Regular Armed Forces decreased 24.4% from 31,210 in the financial year 1990/91 to 23,610 in 1997/98. It then decreased 3.6% from 23,610 in 1997/98 to 22,770 in 2008/09. (see Table 2.17).


  • Outflow from the UK Regular Forces to civil life decreased by 37.7% from 39,080 in 1990/91 to 24,350 in 1997/98. It then decreased from 24,350 in 1997/98 to 21,880 in 2008/09. (see Table 2.21).


Ethnic Minorities

The percentage of the UK Regular Forces from an ethnic minority background has continued to increase.

  • The percentage of the UK Regular Forces from an ethnic minority background has increased every year from 4.9% in 2004 to 6.5% in 2009, mostly due to an increase in the percentage of ethnic minorities in ranks Corporal and below (Table 2.9).


  • The percentage of personnel joining the Army other ranks (the largest component of the UK Armed Forces) with an ethnic minority background was 11.7% in 2008/09 - the highest of the five financial years shown. (Table 2.18).


  • The percentage of personnel leaving the trained UK Regular Forces with an ethnic minority background has decreased from 6.3% in 2007/08 to 5.9% in 2008/09 (see Table 2.22).

Females

The percentage of the UK Regular Forces that are female has continued to increase.

  • The percentage of the UK Regular Forces that are female has increased from 5.7% in 1990 to 9.5% in 2009 (see Table 2.12). The RAF has the highest percentage of female personnel (13.5% in 2009) followed by the Naval Service (9.6% in 2009) then the Army (7.8% in 2009) (see Table 2.12).


  • The percentage of people who joined the untrained strength of the UK Regular Forces who are female decreased from 14.3% in 1997/98 to 10.5% in 2004/05. It then decreased more gradually from 10.5% in 2004/05 to 9.4% in 2008/09 (see Table 2.19).


  • The percentage of personnel leaving the UK Regular Forces who are female has remained stable at 8.8% since 2007/08 (see Table 2.23).

Location

Compared with 2007/08, fewer Service personnel are based overseas and more personnel are based within the UK.

  • For the first time since 2005, the proportion of Service personnel1 stationed outside the UK has decreased; from 14.8% (27,630) in 2008 to 13.5% (25,350) in 2009 (see Table 2.3).

Reserve Forces

The strength of the Reserve Forces has declined markedly since 1990, but over the past 5 years has remained more stable than the Regular Forces (see Table 2.15).

  • The total strength of the Volunteer Reserve forces increased from 39,230 in 2008 to 39,760 in 2009.


  • The strength of the cadet forces has decreased from 136,000 in 1990 to 130,200 in 2009. There was an increase in the strength of Army cadets but this was offset by larger net decreases in the number of Naval Service and RAF cadets (see Table 2.16).

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1.     Excluding personnel of unallocated location.