Quarterly service personnel statistics 1 January 2021

Question 1

Introduction

Accepted Answer

This publication contains information on the strength, intake, outflow and gains to trained strength for the UK Armed Forces overall and each of the Services; Royal Navy/Royal Marines (RN/RM), Army and Royal Air Force (RAF).

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) announced on 29 June 2016 that it was changing the Army trained, disciplined manpower by changing the definition of Trained Strength to include those in the Army who have completed Phase 1 training. This affects some Tri-Service totals. This does not affect the Naval Service or the RAF in any way. The MOD held a public consultation on SDSR Resilience: Trained strength definition for the Army and resultant changes to Ministry of Defence Armed Forces personnel statistics, between 11 July and 21 January 2017. A consultation response was published on 7 November 2016. The changes outlined in the consultation and response have been incorporated into this publication from the 1 October 2016 edition onwards. This affects statistics in some of the accompanying Excel tables and ODS tables, specifically tables: 3a, 3e, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b and 7c. Terminology has also been updated in Excel tables 3c and 4.

Detailed statistics, including unrounded figures, and historic time series can be found in the Excel tables and ODS tables. These include quarterly statistics on the number of Service and Civilian Personnel, Separated Service (the proportion of personnel breaching harmony guidelines), Applications to each of the Services and Military Salaries. Further historic statistics will be added in due course; in the meantime, historic statistics can be found in the following archived publications:

The glossary contains definitions of terminology used in this publication.

A calendar of upcoming MOD statistical releases can be found on GOV.UK

A National Statistics publication

The United Kingdom Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National Statistics, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Designation can be broadly interpreted to mean that the statistics:

meet identified user needs
are well explained and readily accessible
are produced according to sound methods
are managed impartially and objectively in the public interest

Once statistics have been designated as National Statistics it is a statutory requirement that the Code of Practice shall continue to be observed.

Question 2

Policy Background

Accepted Answer

The main factors affecting decisions about the size of the Armed Forces required by the MOD to achieve success in its military tasks include:

An assessment of current and future threats to UK national security.
The need for contingent / reactive capability – the requirement to be able to respond immediately to domestic or international crisis.
Current operational and international obligations (e.g. NATO, UN).
Changes in technology, the introduction of new equipment and restructuring that leads to equipment becoming obsolete or surplus to requirements.
The need to deliver against the military tasks as efficiently as possible, maintaining a balanced, affordable defence budget.

The Service personnel statistics in previous versions of this publication are reported against the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, released in November 2015. Prior to SDSR 2015, publications reported against the planned Future Force 2020, as set out in the SDSR 2010 which planned to reduce the size of the Armed Forces. The Integrated Review and Spending Review will determine if there will be any new targets for Full-time Armed Forces personnel. In addition, this will be reported in future publications.

Army Trained Strength

On 29 June 2016, the MOD announced that the Army planned to use Regular and Reserve Phase 1 trained personnel in response to crises within the UK. Following this, the term ‘Trained Strength’ would include all Army personnel trained in the core function of their Service (i.e. those who have completed Phase 1 training). The MOD has consulted on these changes and the resultant impact they will have on this publication and a consultation response was published on 7 October 2016.

From the 1 October 2016 edition onwards, Army personnel who have completed Phase 1 training (basic Service training) but not Phase 2 training (trade training), are considered trained personnel. This change enabled the Army to meet the SDSR 15 commitment to improve support to UK resilience. The Trained Strength definition for the Royal Navy, RAF, Maritime Reserve and RAF Reserves has not changed, reflecting the requirement for their personnel to complete Phase 2 training to be able to fulfil the core function of their respective Services.

Army personnel who have completed Phase 2 training are now called ‘Trade Trained’. This population aligns with the old definition of trained personnel, therefore maintaining the continuity of the statistical time series, and will continue to be counted against the workforce requirement.

The Army have undertaken a review of training requirements and Royal Engineers Other Ranks personnel joining from 1 July 2019 will become Trade Trained after Initial Trade Training (ITT) and will join the Full-time Trade Trained Strength (FTTTS), and therefore we may see a change in the trend.

Full-Time Armed Forces Personnel

In order to meet the manpower reduction targets set out in SDSR 2010, the Three Month Exercise (3ME) and Army 2020, a redundancy programme coupled with adjusted recruiting (intake) and contract extensions, were set. The redundancy programme is now complete.

On 23 November 2015, the MOD published SDSR 2015. SDSR 2015 outlines plans to uplift the size of the Regular Armed Forces, setting targets for a strength of 82,000 for the Army, and increasing the Royal Navy/Royal Marines and Royal Air Force by a total of 700 personnel. The SDSR 2015 Defence Key Facts booklet announced new targets for 2020 for each of the Services.

Future Reserves 2020 Programme

The Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) programme aims to increase the size of the Reserve Forces. Further information on the growth of the Reserves can be found in the Policy Background section of previous Monthly Service Personnel Statistics publications.

As a result of the changes to Army Trained Strength (referred to above) and their impact on the Army Reserve, the MOD released a Written Ministerial Statement containing revised FR20 strength growth profiles on 8 November 2016. Reporting of the growth of the Reserves will be based on strength profiles only.

At the time of this statistical release, there has been no formal announcement of new targets beyond 31 March 2019. However, the Ministry of Defence’s recruitment campaign is a long-term programme and numbers continue to grow.

Question 3

UK Service Personnel

Accepted Answer

Strength is the number of personnel.

UK Regulars are full-time Service personnel, including Nursing Services, excluding FTRS personnel, Gurkhas, mobilised Reservists, Military Provost Guarding Service, Locally Engaged Personnel, and Non-Regular Permanent Service.

Volunteer Reserves voluntarily accept an annual training commitment and are liable to be mobilised to deploy on operations. They can be utilised on a part-time or full-time basis to provide support to the Regular Forces at home and overseas.

UK Service Personnel comprise the total strength of the military personnel employed by the Ministry of Defence Excel tables and ODS tables, Table 1). The current strength of the UK Service Personnel is 196,140 which includes

All UK Regular personnel and all Gurkha personnel (which combined at 1 January 2021 comprised 77.0 per cent of UK Service Personnel).
Volunteer Reserve personnel (which at 1 January 2021 comprised 18.9 per cent of UK Service Personnel).
Other Personnel including the Serving Regular Reserve, Sponsored Reserve, Military Provost Guard Service, Locally Engaged Personnel and elements of the Full-time Reserve Service (FTRS) (which at 1 January 2021 comprised 4.1 per cent of UK Service Personnel).

The total strength of the UK Forces has increased between 1 January 2020 and 1 January 2021 by 2.1 per cent (3,980 personnel), as shown in Table 1. Since 1 January 2020, the total strength of the UK Regular Forces, Gurkhas and Other Personnel have all increased. The strength of the Volunteer Reserves has slightly decreased for Army since 1 January 2020, but has increased for Navy and RAF.

Table 1: Trends in UK Forces Strength¹

	01-Jan-18	01-Jan-19	01-Jan-20	01-Jul-20	01-Oct-20	01-Jan-21	% Change since 1 Jan 20
UK Forces Personnel	194,950	190,750	192,160	193,460	195,050	196,140	2.1%
UK Regular Forces	147,030	143,430	144,030	144,750	146,330	147,250	2.2%
Gurkhas	2,910	3,070	3,370	3,750	3,740	3,720	10.6%
Volunteer Reserve	36,940	36,420	36,940	37,150	37,040	37,100	0.5%
Other Personnel	8,060	7,820	7,830	7,810	7,940	8,060	2.9%
Royal Navy / Royal Marines	38,520	38,550	38,980	39,420	39,840	39,990	2.6%
UK Regular Forces	32,450	32,380	32,640	33,050	33,380	33,520	2.7%
Volunteer Reserve	3,690	3,780	3,920	3,950	4,000	4,020	2.5%
Other Personnel	2,380	2,380	2,420	2,420	2,450	2,450	1.2%
Army	119,470	115,270	116,030	116,800	117,810	118,640	2.2%
UK Regular Forces	81,710	78,360	78,620	78,880	80,040	80,010	2.8%
Gurkhas	2,910	3,070	3,370	3,750	3,740	3,720	10.6%
Volunteer Reserve	30,320	29,600	29,860	30,020	29,790	29,790	-0.2%
Other Personnel	4,530	4,230	4,180	4,160	4,240	4,310	3.0%
Royal Air Force	36,960	36,940	37,150	37,240	37,400	37,510	1.0%
UK Regular Forces	32,880	32,690	32,770	32,820	32,910	32,920	0.5%
Volunteer Reserve	2,930	3,040	3,160	3,180	3,240	3,290	4.2%
Other Personnel	1,160	1,210	1,220	1,240	1,250	1,300	5.8%

UK Forces comprises all UK Regular, Gurkha, Volunteer Reserve and Other personnel. The constituents of “Other personnel” are reported towards the top of this page.

Question 4

Full-Time Trained Strength (RN/RM & RAF) and Full-Time Trade Trained Strength (Army) and Workforce Requirement

Accepted Answer

The Full-time Trained Strength (FTTS) Royal Navy/Royal Marines and Royal Air Force (RN/RM & RAF) and Full-time Trade Trained Strength (FTTTS) (Army) (which comprises military personnel who have completed both ‘Phase 1’ and ‘Phase 2’ training) is counted against the Workforce Requirement. The difference between the two is measured as either a surplus or deficit. This is one indicator of the Service’s ability to execute military tasks. Other indicators include the surplus / deficit within key trades or in specific Ranks.

The FTTS (RN/RM & RAF) and FTTTS (Army) comprises: 131,340 Regular personnel (97.0 per cent), 3,360 Gurkhas (2.5 per cent), and 740 Full-time Reserve Service personnel (0.5 per cent) who are filling Regular posts and count against the Workforce Requirement.

Table 2: FTTS (RN/RM & RAF) and FTTTS (Army) against Workforce Requirement

	01-Jan-18	01-Jan-19	01-Jan-20	01-Jul-20	01-Oct-20	01-Jan-21
FTTS (RN/RM & RAF) and FTTTS (Army)	137,260	134,990	132,360	132,250	134,200	135,440
Workforce Requirement	145,500	144,640	144,530	144,610	144,640	144,680
% Surplus/Deficit	-5.7%	-6.7%	-8.4%	-8.5%	-7.2%	-6.4%
RN/RM FTTS	29,260	29,100	28,890	28,860	29,030	29,140
Workforce Requirement	30,400	30,540	30,630	30,680	30,700	30,730
% Surplus/Deficit	-3.7%	-4.7%	-5.7%	-5.9%	-5.5%	-5.2%
Army FTTTS	77,470	75,880	73,670	73,780	75,310	76,350
Workforce Requirement	82,650	82,160	82,030	82,050	82,050	82,040
% Surplus/Deficit	-6.3%	-7.6%	-10.2%	-10.1%	-8.2%	-6.9%
RAF FTTS	30,530	30,010	29,800	29,610	29,850	29,960
Workforce Requirement	32,460	31,940	31,870	31,890	31,900	31,900
% Surplus/Deficit	-5.9%	-6.0%	-6.5%	-7.1%	-6.4%	-6.1%

The current deficit against the Workforce Requirement is 6.4 per cent for the UK Armed Forces. There is a deficit of 5.2 per cent, 6.9 per cent and 6.1 per cent in the (RN/RM), the Army and the (RAF) respectively, as can be seen in Table 2 above.

Full-time Trained Strength (RN/RM & RAF) and Full-time Trade Trained Strength (Army) includes all UK Regular personnel, Gurkhas and those elements of the Full-time Reserve Service (FTRS) who are counted against the workforce requirement (see glossary for more detail).

Workforce Requirement is the number of Service personnel needed, based on the Defence Planning Round, set for each of the three Services.

Figure 1: FTTS (RN/RM & RAF) and FTTTS (Army) against Workforce Requirement

A line graph showing FTTS (RN/RM & RAF) & FTTTS (Army) against the Workforce Requirement. FTTS & FTTTS decreased until Oct 2019 but has since had a sharp increase. FTTS & FTTTS is still lower than the Workforce Requirement.

Question 5

Full-Time Trained and Trade-Traind Strength (Army)

Accepted Answer

Table 3: Comparison of Full-Time Trained and Trade-Trained Strengths (Army)

	01-Jan-20	01-Apr-20	01-Jul-20	01-Oct-20	01-Jan-21
Full-Time Trained Strength	78,870	79,010	79,280	80,760	81,550
of which Trade Trained	73,670	73,900	73,780	75,310	76,350

Figure 2: FTTS & FTTTS in the Army since Trained Strength definition change (Oct 16)

A line graph showing the Army trained strength (FTTS) and Trade Trained strength (FTTTS). FTTS fell consistently until April 2019 and has been increasing since. There was also a decline in FTTTS until Oct 2019 but this has been increasing since.

As can be seen from Figure 2 above, Army trained strength (FTTS) and Army trade trained strength (FTTTS) has been increasing since April and October 2019. The trained and trade trained strength is higher than at 1 January 2020 by 3.4 per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively.

Table 4: Army Officers and Other Ranks by Training Status

	01-Jan-18	01-Jan-19	01-Jan-20	01-Jul-20	01-Oct-20	01-Jan-21
Trained Officers	12,570	12,630	12,660	12,720	12,860	12,950
Trade Trained Officers	12,160	12,210	12,080	12,440	12,490	12,550
Trained Other Ranks	69,090	66,530	66,200	66,560	67,900	68,600
Trade Trained Other Ranks	65,300	63,670	61,580	61,340	62,820	63,800

Since 1 January 2018, the strength of the trained and trade trained Officers has increased by 3.1 per cent and 3.2 per cent respectively. The strength of trained and trade trained Other Ranks has decreased by 0.7 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively, as can be inferred from Table 4 above.

Question 6

UK Regular Personnel (exclusing Gurkhas)

Accepted Answer

As at 1 January 2021, the Trained and Untrained Strength of the UK Regular Forces (which excludes Gurkhas) was 147,250. The Service split for this figure can be found in Table 5 below.

There are 11,070 untrained personnel in the UK Regular Forces (excluding Gurkhas), of which 4,710 are in the RN/RM, 3,340 in the Army and 3,030 are in the RAF. The Untrained Strength reflects the number of personnel who can potentially join the Trained Strength.

Table 5: UK Regular Forces by Service and Training Status

	01-Jan-20		01-Jan-21
RN/RM	33,380		33,520
of which Trained	28,710	86.0%	28,820	86.0%
Army	80,040		80,810
of which Trained	76,680	95.8%	77,480	95.9%
of which Trade Trained	71,800	89.7%	72,640	89.9%
RAF	32,910		32,920
of which Trained	29,800	90.5%	29,890	90.8%

Intake and Outflow

In the 12 months to 31 December 2020 there was a net intake of 3,190 personnel to the UK Regular Forces. This is higher than the net intake of 600 in the 12 months to 31 December 2019. This is mainly driven by a gradual decline in outflow which has decreased by 16.6 per cent.

Intake

Intake into the trained and untrained UK Regular Forces was 15,890 in the 12 months to 31 December 2020. This has remained relatively stable with the intake of 15,830 in the 12 months to 31 December 2019.
In the 12 months to 31 December 2020, intake to the RN/RM and Army has increased by 10.6 percent and 0.6 per cent respectively, intake to the RAF has decreased by 0.4 per cent when compared with the 12 months to 31 December 2019.

Figure 3: Intake to and Outflow from the UK Regular Forces over rolling 12-month periods

Outflow

Voluntary Outflow (VO) encompasses all trained (RN/RM & RAF) and Trade Trained (Army) personnel who voluntarily exit before the end of their agreed engagement or commission period.

Time Expiry is a term used to describe those in the Armed Services who reach the end of their engagement or commission and then leave.

Other includes outflow from the trained (RN/RM & RAF) and trade trained (Army) strength due to, amongst others, medical reasons, misconduct, compassionate, dismissals and death.

VO Rate is the number of personnel voluntarily outflowing as a proportion of the average Trained Strength for the outflow period.

Outflow from the trained and untrained UK Regular Forces was 12,700 in the 12 months to 31 December 2020; down from 15,230 in the 12 months to 31 December 2019.
Across all Services, VO was the most common reason for outflow of Trained (RN/RM & RAF) and Trade-Trained (Army) personnel, accounting for 62 per cent of outflow in the 12 months to 31 December 2020 (See Figure 4).
In the 12 months to 31 December 2020, 5,680 trained (RN/RM & RAF) and trade trained (Army) personnel left through VO; the VO rate was 4.4 per cent. The VO Rate for the RN/RM was 4.3 per cent, for the RAF it was 4.0 per cent and for the Army it was 4.6 per cent.
In the 12 months to 31 December 2020, the VO rate amongst Other Ranks was 4.6 per cent, this is higher than the VO rate for Officers which was 3.6 per cent.

There is no single reason why personnel leave on Voluntary Outflow, but the personnel who completed the Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey indicated reasons for leaving the Armed Forces included the impact of Service life on family and personal life and opportunities outside the Armed Forces.

Figure 4: Outflow of trained (RN/RM & RAF) and trade trained (Army) UK Regulars by exit reason (12 months to 31 December 2020)

Pie charts showing the outflow for the three services by exit reason. For all services Voluntary Outflow is the highest exit reason.

Gains to Trained Strength (GTS) figures comprise all Regular personnel who complete Phase 2 training and those that enter directly into the Phase 2 trained strength. It excludes those returning to the Phase 2 trained strength from Long Term Absence (LTA).

Trained Outflow figures show Phase 2 trained outflow from UK Regular Forces, including personnel leaving the Services, deaths and recalled reservists on release. They do not include promotion from Ranks to Officers or flows between Services.

Gains to Trained Strength and Trained Outflow In the 12 months to 31 December 2020, there was a net gain of trained strength of 3,110 personnel from the UK Regular Forces. This is in contrast to a net loss of 2,250 for the 12 months to 31 December 2019.

Trained direct entrants in the 12 months to 31 December 2020 was 840. This is an increase of 41.1 per cent from the 12 months to 31 December 2019.
Personnel completing Phase 2 training in the 12 months to 31 December 2020 was 11,420. This has increased by 28.6 per cent when compared against this period’s equivalent a year ago (8,890).
Compared to the 12 months to 31 December 2019, Gains to Trained Strength for the RN/RM increased by 1.0 per cent. Gains to Trained strength for the RAF decreased by 1.3 per cent when compared against the same period. There has been a large increase in Gains to Trade Trained Strength for Army in comparison to the same time period last year, however some of this is as a result of a step change due to late reporting and administrative errors.
In comparison to the 12 months ending 31 December 2019, Trained outflow from the RN/RM, Army and RAF has decreased by 15.8 per cent, 29.0 per cent and 14.7 per cent respectively in the 12 months ending 31 December 2020.

Figure 5: GTS and Outflow from the UK Trained Regular Forces 12 month ending across the Armed Forces

Line graphs showing trained outflow and GTS for RN/RM, Army, RAF and all services. For all services, trained outflow was consistently higher than GTS up to June 2020. At Jan 2021 GTS contnutes to outstrip trained outflow.

Question 7

Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) Programme Monitoring

Accepted Answer

Future Reserves 2020 includes Volunteer Reserves who are mobilised, High Readiness Reserves and those Volunteer Reserves serving on Full-time Reserve Service (FTRS) and Additional Duties Commitment (ADC). Sponsored Reserves who provide a more cost effective solution than Volunteer Reserves are also included in the Army Reserve FR20.

Following consultation on changes to the Army Trained Strength definition and the removal of the FR20 intake targets, the MOD released Future Reserves 2020 Trained Strength growth profiles in a Written Ministerial Statement on 8 November 2016. Reporting of the growth of the Reserves will be based on Trained Strength profiles only.

Future Reserves 2020 Strength

Following this, progress against FR20 population Trained Strength targets are reported in Table 6a of the Excel tables and ODS tables. The total Trained and Untrained Strength of the Tri-Service Future Reserves 2020 at 1 January 2021 was 37,100, an increase of 220 personnel or 0.6 per cent since 1 January 2020.

Maritime Reserve

Figure 6 shows that the Maritime Reserve Trained Strength was 2,840 as at 1 January 2021. This is an increase of 40 personnel (1.3 per cent) since 1 January 2020.

The Maritime Reserve total strength as at 1 January 2021 was 4,020. This is an increase of 100 personnel (2.5 per cent) since 1 January 2020.

Figure 6: Maritime Reserve Trained Strength

A line graph showing trained strength for Maritime Reserve between April 2014 and January 2021. The trained strength was 2840 at 1 January 2021.

Army Reserve

Figure 7 shows that the Army Reserve Trained Strength was 26,920 as at 1 January 2021. This is a decrease of 320 (1.2 per cent) since 1 January 2020.

The Army Reserve total strength as at 1 January 2021 was 29,790. This has remained relatively stable since 1 January 2020.

Figure 7: Army Reserve Trained Strength

A line graph showing trained strength for Army Reserve between April 2014 and January 2021. The trained strength was 26920 at 1 January 2021.

RAF Reserve

Figure 8 shows that as at 1 January 2021 the RAF Reserves Trained Strength was 2,880. This is an increase of 160 personnel (5.7 per cent) since 1 January 2020.

The RAF Reserves total strength as at 1 January 2021 was 3,290. This is an increase of 130 personnel (4.2 per cent) since 1 January 2020.

Figure 8: RAF Reserves Trained Strength

A line graph showing trained strength for RAF Reserve between April 2014 and January 2021. The trained strength was 2880 at 1 January 2021.

FR20 Intake and Outflow statistics

Intake and outflow statistics report how many people have left or joined the Trained or Untrained Strengths. As well as leavers and new recruits, this can include personnel transferring to or from the Regular Forces, other Reserve populations, or Reserve re-joiners.

The total intake rates for each Service in the 12 months to 1 January 2021 are as follows:

The Maritime Reserve total intake rate was 20.3 per cent; a decrease of 4.5 percentage points since the 12 months to 1 January 2020.
The Army Reserve total intake rate was 11.9 per cent; a decrease of 2.9 percentage points since the 12 months to 1 January 2020.
The RAF Reserves total intake rate was 16.0 per cent; a decrease of 5.4 percentage points since the 12 months to 1 January 2020.

Figure 9: Total intake rate by Service

A line graph showing the FR20 intake rate for the three services between June 2015 and December 2020. All intake rates had showed an upturn since the start of 2019 but have started to decline since the start of 2020.

The total outflow rates for each Service in the 12 months to 1 January 2021 are as follows:

The Maritime Reserve total outflow rate was 17.7 per cent; a decrease of 3.5 percentage points since the 12 months to 1 January 2020.
The Army Reserve total outflow rate was 12.0 per cent; a decrease of 1.8 percentage points since the 12 months to 1 January 2020.
The RAF Reserves total outflow rate was 11.9 per cent; a decrease of 5.7 percentage points since the 12 months to 1 January 2020.

Figure 10: Total outflow rate by Service

A line graph showing the FR20 outflow rate for the three services between June 2015 and December 2020. The outflow rates in general have shown a decrease since May 2020, with the highest being Maritime Reserves at 17.7% as at 1 January 2021.

Figure 11: Intake to and Outflow from the FR20 Reserves over rolling 12-month periods

Line graphs showing intake to and outflow from the FR20 reserves over 12 month rolling periods. For all three reserve services combined, intake is currently higher than outflow for the latest 12 month period.

Question 8

Separated Service

Accepted Answer

Separated Service concerns personnel who are serving away from their usual place of duty or are unable to enjoy leisure at their place of duty or residence at place of duty.

Individual Harmony is the freedom to enjoy leisure at the normal place of duty or residence at place of duty; this includes leave and adventurous training.

Separated service measures absence from normal place of duty. The time an individual experiences separated service is compared against each Service’s “Individual Harmony” guidelines to ensure a balance between duty and leisure for all Service personnel.

A breach of individual harmony guidelines occurs when Service personnel experience separated service for longer than the period outlined in individual harmony guidelines, which are based on the structures and organisation of that Service. The guidelines are measured over a 36 month period and the limits are:

660 days away for the RN/RM
498 days for the Army
468 days away for the RAF.

Using 1 April 2020 as an example, the formula for the breach rate is as follows:

Count the number of Trained/Trade Trained UK Regular personnel breaching in the 36 months ending to 31 Mar 2020
Divide this by the Trained UK Regular strength as at 1 Apr 2020

There is a fall in the percentage breaching harmony this quarter for both Army and RAF. The percentage breaching harmony for RN/RM has increased slightly since the previous quarter.

Separated service data can be found in Table 10 of the accompanying Excel tables and ODS tables

Figure 12: Percentage of UK Regular Forces breaching harmony (1 April 2014 - 30 September 2020)

A line graph showing the percentage of UK Regular Forces breaching harmony. Army has the highest breach rate of the three services at 1.3% at 1 October 2020. Navy and RAF have breach rates of 0.3% and 0.5% respectively at 1 October 2020.

Question 9

Further Information

Accepted Answer

Rounding

Figures in this publication have been rounded to the nearest 10, though numbers ending in a “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent the systematic bias caused by always rounding numbers upwards. For example; a value of “25” would be rounded down to “20” and a value of “15” would be rounded up to “20”.

Additionally, totals and sub-totals are rounded separately and so may not equal the sums of their rounded parts.

Percentages are calculated from unrounded data and presented to one decimal place.

The MOD Disclosure Control and Rounding policy is published on GOV.UK and we have applied this policy to the statistics in the accompanying Excel tables and ODS tables. The policy is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defence-statistics-policies

Revisions

Corrections to the published statistics will be made if errors are found, or if figures change as a result of improvements to methodology or changes to definitions. When making corrections, we will follow the Ministry of Defence Statistics Revisions and Corrections Policy. All corrected figures will be identified by the symbol “r”, and an explanation will be given of the reason for and size of the revision. Corrections which would have a significant impact on the utility of the statistics will be corrected as soon as possible, by reissuing the publication. Minor errors will also be corrected, but for efficient use of resource these corrections may be timed to coincide with the next release of this quarterly publication.

There are no revisions in this version of the publication.

Symbols

Symbol	Description
\|\|	discontinuity in time series
*	not applicable
..	not available
-	zero
~	5 or fewer
p	Provisional
e	Estimate
r	Revised

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▲196,140	Strength of UK Forces Service Personnel at 1 January 2021 An increase of 3,980 (2.1 per cent) since 1 January 2020
▲135,440	Full-time Trained Strength (RN/RM & RAF) and Full-time Trade Trained Strength (Army) at 1 January 2021 An increase of 3,080 (2.3 per cent) since 1 January 2020
▼6.4%	Deficit against the planned number of personnel needed (Workforce Requirement) at 1 January 2021 A decrease in the deficit from 8.4 per cent as at 1 January 2020
▲15,890	People joined the UK Regular Armed Forces in the past 12 months (1 January 2020 – 31 December 2020) An increase of 60 (0.4 per cent) compared with the previous 12 month period
▼12,700	People left the UK Regular Armed Forces in the past 12 months (1 January 2020 – 31 December 2020) A decrease of 2,530 (16.6 per cent) compared with the previous 12 month period
▼32,650	Strength of the Trained Future Reserves 2020 at 1 January 2021 A decrease of 200 (0.6 per cent) since 1 January 2020
▼4,880	People joined the Future Reserves 2020 in the past 12 months (1 January 2020 – 31 December 2020) A decrease of 1,140 (19.0 per cent) compared with the previous 12 month period
▼4,660	People left the Future Reserves 2020 in the past 12 months (1 January 2020 – 31 December 2020) A decrease of 780 (14.4 per cent) compared with the previous 12 month period

Quarterly service personnel statistics 1 January 2021

Key Points and Trends

Introduction