Chapter 2 - Personnel
                                           
Table 2.13 Strength of UK Regular Forces by Service and religion, at 1 April each year
The percentage of UK Regular Armed Forces who are Christians has reduced from 89.7 per cent in 2007 to 84.9 per cent in 2011. The number of personnel declaring 'No Religion' has increased from 9.5 per cent in 2007 to 13.4 per cent in 2011. At 1 April 2011, the Army has the highest proportion of personnel declaring any religion, including of Hindus (0.6 per cent) and Muslims (0.5 per cent). These have increased gradually over the past 5 years from 0.2 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively.

Data from the Joint Personnel Administration System for 2006-2009 have been reviewed and finalised, therefore some figures may differ from previous publications. Please see the Chapter 2 introduction for more details.
 
  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
      %       %       %       %       %  
All Services 190 670       186 910       188 600       191 660 p     186 360 p    
 
   No Religion 18 000   9.5   19 080   10.5   21 500   11.6   23 770 p 12.6 p 24 730 p 13.4 p
   Christian 169 070   89.7   160 990   88.5   161 220   87.1   162 140 p 85.8 p 156 540 p 84.9 p
   Christian Tradition1 190   0.1   210   0.1   220   0.1   250 p 0.1 p 250 p 0.1 p
   Buddhist 320   0.2   350   0.2   390   0.2   440 p 0.2 p 480 p 0.3 p
   Hindu 300   0.2   340   0.2   550   0.3   690 p 0.4 p 730 p 0.4 p
   Jewish 70   -   70   -   70   -   80 p - p 80 p - p
   Muslim 360   0.2   390   0.2   500   0.3   600 p 0.3 p 610 p 0.3 p
   Sikh 90   -   90   0.1   110   0.1   120 p 0.1 p 120 p 0.1 p
   Other Religions2 190   0.1   460   0.3   630   0.3   870 p 0.5 p 870 p 0.5 p
   Unknown3 2 090   *   4 930   *   3 400   *   2 690 p *   1 940 p *  
 
Naval Service 38 850       38 560       38 340       38 730 p     37 660 p    
 
   No Religion 5 000   13.1   5 420   14.2   5 890   15.7   6 690 p 17.7 p 7 040 p 18.8 p
   Christian 33 120   86.4   32 420   85.1   31 270   83.5   30 840 p 81.5 p 30 080 p 80.3 p
   Christian Tradition1 40   0.1   40   0.1   50   0.1   50 p 0.1 p 60 p 0.2 p
   Buddhist 30   0.1   40   0.1   40   0.1   40 p 0.1 p 40 p 0.1 p
   Hindu 20   -   20   0.1   20   0.1   20 p 0.1 p 20 p 0.1 p
   Jewish 10   -   10   -   10   -   10 p - p 10 p - p
   Muslim 30   0.1   40   0.1   40   0.1   40 p 0.1 p 40 p 0.1 p
   Sikh 10   -   10   -   10   -   10 p - p 10 p - p
   Other Religions2 70   0.2   90   0.2   120   0.3   140 p 0.4 p 170 p 0.4 p
   Unknown3 510   *   470   *   880   *   880 p *   180 p *  
 
Army 106 340       104 980       106 700       108 870 p     106 230 p    
 
   No Religion 8 180   7.7   8 680   8.5   9 970   9.4   10 650 p 9.8 p 11 100 p 10.5 p
   Christian 96 560   91.3   91 960   90.2   94 060   88.8   95 770 p 88.1 p 92 690 p 87.3 p
   Christian Tradition1 100   0.1   120   0.1   130   0.1   140 p 0.1 p 120 p 0.1 p
   Buddhist 260   0.2   270   0.3   320   0.3   370 p 0.3 p 400 p 0.4 p
   Hindu 250   0.2   290   0.3   490   0.5   630 p 0.6 p 670 p 0.6 p
   Jewish 40   -   40   -   50   -   50 p - p 60 p 0.1 p
   Muslim 270   0.3   300   0.3   410   0.4   500 p 0.5 p 510 p 0.5 p
   Sikh 50   -   60   0.1   80   0.1   80 p 0.1 p 80 p 0.1 p
   Other Religions2 40   -   270   0.3   400   0.4   580 p 0.5 p 540 p 0.5 p
   Unknown3 590   *   2 990   *   800   *   110 p *   50 p *  
 
Royal Air Force 45 480       43 370       43 560       44 050 p     42 460 p    
 
   No Religion 4 810   10.8   4 990   11.9   5 640   13.5   6 440 p 15.2 p 6 590 p 16.2 p
   Christian 39 390   88.5   36 600   87.4   35 890   85.8   35 530 p 83.9 p 33 770 p 82.9 p
   Christian Tradition1 50   0.1   50   0.1   50   0.1   60 p 0.1 p 60 p 0.2 p
   Buddhist 30   0.1   30   0.1   30   0.1   30 p 0.1 p 40 p 0.1 p
   Hindu 40   0.1   30   0.1   30   0.1   40 p 0.1 p 40 p 0.1 p
   Jewish 20   -   20   -   20   -   20 p - p 20 p - p
   Muslim 50   0.1   50   0.1   50   0.1   60 p 0.1 p 50 p 0.1 p
   Sikh 20   0.1   20   0.1   30   0.1   30 p 0.1 p 30 p 0.1 p
   Other Religions2 80   0.2   100   0.2   120   0.3   150 p 0.4 p 160 p 0.4 p
   Unknown3 990   *   1 470   *   1 720   *   1 700 p *   1 710 p *  
 
Source: DASA(Quad-Service)
 
Religion data for all three Services is only available since April 2007 following the introduction of the Joint Personnel Administration System.
 
1. Christian Tradition includes Christian Scientist, Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon), Jehovah's Witness and Unitarian religions among others.
2. Other Religions includes Druid, Pagan, Rastafarian, Spiritualist, Zoroastrian (Parsee), Wicca and Baha'i among others.
3. Includes those with an unrecorded religion and those who chose not to declare.
 
Percentages are calculated from unrounded data and are based on those with known religion only.