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 Ending | 31 March 2015 | 31 March 2016 | 31 March 2017 | 31 March 2018 | 31 March 2019 |
Tri-Service | 12,980 | 13,796 | 13,383 | 12,359 | 12,485 |
Royal Navy/Royal Marines | 2,933 | 2,997 | 3,045 | 3,042 | 3,143 |
Army | 8,165 | 8,600 | 8,294 | 7,217 | 6,985 |
Royal Air Force | 1,882 | 2,199 | 2,044 | 2,100 | 2,357 |
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