Skip to main content

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Question for Ministry of Defence

UIN HL17453, tabled on 24 July 2019

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) Royal Navy, (2) army, and (3) Royal Air Force, recruits there were in each of the last five years for which records are available.

Answered on

2 August 2019

The number of recruits joining the Armed Forces in the last five years is given in the table below.

12 Months Ending31 March 201531 March 201631 March 201731 March 201831 March 2019
Tri-Service12,98013,79613,38312,35912,485
Royal Navy/Royal Marines2,9332,9973,0453,0423,143
Army8,1658,6008,2947,2176,985
Royal Air Force1,8822,1992,0442,1002,357

UK Regular Forces includes trained and untrained UK Regulars, excludes Gurkhas, Military Provost Guard Service, Locally Engaged Personnel, Volunteer Reserve, Serving Regular Reserve, Sponsored Reserve, and Full Time Reserve Service.

The Armed Forces recruitment figures are published in the Armed Forces Quarterly Service Personnel Statistics at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/quarterly-service-personnel-statistics-2019