National statistics

UK Armed Forces Biannual Diversity Statistics: October 2023

Published 21 December 2023

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This statistical release presents information relating to the Gender, Ethnicity, Nationality, Religion, Age and Sexual Orientation of Military Personnel employed by the Ministry of Defence (MOD). This publication meets the Department’s obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty to provide information on its workforce identified by the Equality Act 2010.

Information is provided on the number of Military Personnel in (defined as the Strength), joining (Intake) and leaving (Outflow) the UK Armed Forces. Statistics are included for UK Regular Forces and Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) personnel. Further statistics can be found in the Excel tables which accompany this report.

Some of the statistics previously published in the following publications can now be found in this release:

Gender

▲11.7% Female representation in the UK Regular Forces
as at 1 October 2023
This has increased by 0.3 percentage points compared with 1 October 2022 (11.4%)
▲15.9% Female representation in the Future Reserves 2020
as at 1 October 2023
This has increased by 0.2 percentage points compared with 1 October 2022 (15.7%)
▼12.3% Of total intake into the combined UK Regular Forces and the Future Reserves 2020 were female
in the 12 months to 30 September 2023
This has decreased by 0.6 percentage points compared with 30 September 2022 (12.9%)

Ethnicity

▲10.6% Ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) representation in the UK Regular Forces
as at 1 October 2023
This has increased by 0.7 percentage points compared with 1 October 2022 (9.9%)
▲6.2% Ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) representation in the Future Reserves 2020
as at 1 October 2023
This has increased by 0.1 percentage points compared with 1 October 2022 (6.1%)
▲11.7% Of total intake into the combined UK Regular Forces and the Future Reserves 2020 were ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities)
in the 12 months to 30 September 2023
This has increased by 2.8 percentage points compared with 30 September 2022 (8.9%)

Responsible Statistician: Tri-Service Head of Branch

Email: Analysis-Tri-Hd@mod.gov.uk

Further information/mailing list: Analysis-Tri-Service@mod.gov.uk

Background Quality Report: Background Quality Report

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Introduction

This publication contains diversity information on the Strength, Intake and Outflow of the UK Regular Forces and the Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) population, both overall and for each of the Services, including the Royal Navy/Royal Marines (RN/RM), Army and Royal Air Force (RAF). Statistics are for Trained and Untrained personnel unless otherwise stated. Ethnic origin and religion data are self-reported on the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) database. Any percentages or figures quoted within this report relate to those with a known ethnic origin, religion or nationality unless otherwise stated.

Detailed statistics and historic time series can be found in the Excel tables which accompany this report; 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. The MOD continues to seek feedback from users to ensure this publication is meeting user needs. 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.

Background

Currently, there are no publicly declared Armed Forces recruitment targets for women and ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities), after the April 2020 targets came to a completion.

Defence remains dedicated to achieving a more diverse workforce to promote a diverse and inclusive culture, allowing everyone to reach their potential, and ensuring the Armed Forces better reflect the society they serve. Defence is undertaking a wide range of activities to increase the number of ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) and Female recruits into the Armed Forces. Statistics on ethnic origin are self-declared by personnel and are as recorded on the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) database. Please see Excel tables 29 and 30 and the single department plan for more information.

UK Regulars comprise Full time Service personnel, including Nursing Services, but excluding Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) personnel, Gurkhas, mobilised Reservists, Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS), Locally Engaged Personnel (LEP), Non-Regular Permanent Staff (NRPS), High Readiness Reserve (HRR) and Expeditionary Forces Institute (EFI) personnel. Unless otherwise stated, includes Trained and Untrained personnel.

Intake to UK Regular Forces comprises new entrants, re-entrants, direct Trained entrants (including Professionally Qualified Officers) and Intake from the reserves. It excludes all movements within the Regular Forces; including flows from the Untrained to Trained strength, transfers between Services and flows from Ranks to Officer due to promotion.

Future Reserves 2020 includes Volunteer Reserves who are mobilised, HRR and volunteer reserve personnel serving on Additional Duties Commitment (ADC) or FTRS contracts. Sponsored Reserves who provide a more cost-effective solution than Volunteer Reserve are also included in the Army Reserve FR20. Non-Regular Permanent Staff (NRPS), Expeditionary Forces Institute (EFI) and University Officer Cadets and Regular Reservists are excluded.

Intake to Future Reserves 2020 Forces comprises new entrants, Regular to Reserve transfers, Reserve re-joiners, and Reserve personnel joining from another part of the Reserves that are not included in the FR20 target population.

Female Intake

Figure 1 shows that since the start of the period the proprotion of Females joining the UK Regular Forces and Future Reserve 2020 has gradually increased, peaking at 13.4 percentage points on 31 March 2021. Since then it has been decreasing steadily. In the most recent 12 months ending 30 September 2023 female intake has decreased slightly to 12.3 per cent, down from 12.9 per cent at 30 September 2022.

The fall in Female Intake is due to a decrease in Intake in the Army/Army Reserve and Royal Air Force/Royal Air Force Reserve. Female Intake into these services decreased in the latest 12 month period by 0.3 and 3.0 percentage points respectively. Intake in the Navy/Navy reserves increased in the latest 12 month period by 1.0 percentage point.

Figure 1: Female Intake for the 12 months ending 30 September 2023

Ethnic minorities Intake

A total of 97.9 per cent of Intake into the UK Regular Forces and the Future Reserves 2020 combined, had a known ethnicity on Intake in the 12 months to 30 September 2023.

Figure 2 shows that since the start of the period, ethnic minority (excluding white minorities) personnel joining the UK Regular Forces peaked in the 12 months to 31 March 2020 with 11.7 per cent of total intake. The proportion of ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) personnel joining the UK Regular Forces and Future Reserves 2020 current position is at 11.7 per cent. This is an increase of 2.8 percentage points, compared with 8.9 per cent captured at the 12 month period ending 30 September 2022.

Figure 2: Ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) Intake for the 12 months ending 30 September 2023

The recent increase in the percentage of ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) personnel joining the UK Regulars and Future Reserves 2020 is mirrored in the increase in the number of personnel joining the Armed Forces from Irish and Commonwealth countries. The change in Commonwealth Intake is due to a policy change which is explained further in Figure 3 and related paragraphs.

Figure 3 shows that in the 12 months ending 30 September 2023, ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) Intake to the UK Regular Forces from Irish and Commonwealth countries has increased by 330 personnel when compared against the same 12 month period last year ending 30 September 2022.

Figure 3: Ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) intake to UK Regular Forces from Irish and Commonwealth countries for the 12 months ending 30 September 2023

In July 2013, the MOD re-imposed a five year UK residency criteria for Commonwealth citizens wishing to join the Armed Forces, having previously waived the criteria in 1998. In May 2016 a limited waiver of the residency was introduced to allow the recruitment of up 200 Commonwealth citizens per annum into skill shortage roles.

On 5 November 2018, the MOD announced that it had now removed the five-year residency criteria for up to 1,350 personnel per year. This announcement may have caused the subsequent increase in the commonwealth Intake up to 31 March 2020 (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/armed-forces-to-step-up-commonwealth-recruitment). The Army has approval to recruit soldiers from overseas with a focus on Commonwealth countries. Where appropriate these recruits are recorded under our ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) Intake statistics. In 2020, COVID-19 travel restrictions affected the ability of individuals to travel to the UK and join the Army. This has resulted in a reduction in ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) Intake when compared with the numbers achieved in recent years.

Gender

UK Regular Forces and Future Reserves 2020 Strengths

For full definitions on UK Regular Forces and Future Reserves 2020, see the glossary.

At 1 October 2023, 11.7 per cent of the UK Regular Forces were Female (16,290 personnel). Figure 4 below shows that the RAF has the greatest proportion of Female personnel in the UK Regular Forces. The nature of the roles is different in each of the Services, which is partly explained by restrictions in the historic roles available to women. It was announced these restrictions would be lifted in 2016 (see Background, Section 8.3).

In comparison, 15.9 per cent of the Future Reserves 2020 were Female (5,260 personnel), 4.2 percentage points higher than the UK Regular Forces. Figure 4 shows that the RAF continues to have the greatest Female representation in the Future Reserves 2020 and the Regulars.

Figure 4: Proportion of Females in the UK Regular Forces and Future Reserves 2020 as at 1 October 2023

RAF had the highest proportion of females in UK Regular Forces with 15.9 per cent followed by Royal Navy/ Royal Marines with 10.7 per cent and Army at 10.3 per cent. RAF Reserve also had the highest proportion of females in the Future Reserves 2020 with 23.8 per cent followed by Maritime Reserve at 16.2 per cent and Army Reserve at 15.0 per cent.

At 1 October 2023 there was a greater proportion of Female Officers in the Future Reserves 2020 (19.0 per cent) than the UK Regular Forces (14.5 per cent). Furthermore, Future Reserves 2020 has a higher Female representation of Officers in every Service as shown in Figure 5 below.

Figure 5: Proportion of Female Officers in the UK Regulars and Future Reserves 2020 as at 1 October 2023

From April 2013 to October 2023, there was a steady increase of 5.2 percentage points in the proportion of Female Officers in the RAF Reserves. There has been an increase in the latest 12 months, by 0.5 percentage points as at October 2023. The proportion in the Army Reserve has also increased by 0.1 percentage points. However, the proportion of maritime reserves has decreased by 2.8 percentage points.

Figure 6: UK Regular Forces spilt by Gender and NATO Rank as at 1 October 2023

Figure 6 shows the representation of Females in the UK Regular Forces by NATO rank. Within Other Ranks, there is a similar proportion of Females across the Senior (10.3 per cent) and Junior (11.2 per cent) NATO ranks. However, within the Officers Rank, Female representation in Junior Officer ranks is 6.6 percentage points higher than the Senior Officers.

The proportion of Female UK Regular Forces is the lowest in senior officer roles, at 8.1 per cent, and the highest in junior officer roles at 14.7 per cent.

Intake and Outflow

Intake is defined as the number of personnel joining the strength, and Outflow is the number leaving.

UK Regular Forces

In the 12 months to 30 September 2023, 1,220 female personnel joined the UK Regular Forces - 11.6 per cent of total intake. This has decreased by 0.2 percentage points compared with the 12 months to 30 September 2022 (11.8 per cent). Intake of Female personnel is higher for Officers (19.4 per cent), than for Other Ranks (10.6 per cent). In the 12 months to 30 September 2023, Female Intake was:

  • 280 personnel (11.7 per cent) into the RN/RM
  • 660 personnel (10.4 per cent) into the Army
  • 280 personnel (16.0 per cent) into the RAF

Figure 7 below shows that more Females are leaving the UK Regular forces than are joining. Female personnel accounted for 9.4 per cent of all Outflow from the UK Regular Forces in the 12 months to 30 September 2023. Female net flow was negative 310 in the 12 months ending 30 September 2023.

Figure 7: Female Intake to, Outflow and Net flow from the UK Regular Forces for the 12 months ending 30 September 2023

Future Reserves 2020

In the 12 months to 30 September 2023, 540 female personnel joined the Future Reserves 2020; this is 14.3 per cent of total Intake.

In the 12 months to 30 September 2023, female Intake was:

  • 50 personnel (11.5 per cent) into the FR20 Maritime Reserve population
  • 390 personnel (13.5 per cent) into the FR20 Army Reserve population
  • 100 personnel (22.4 per cent) into the FR20 RAF Reserve population

Figure 8 shows that the number of females that joined the Future Reserves 2020 in the 12 months to 30 September 23 was 540 personnel which is lower than the 750 Personnel who outflowed. Male Outflow was also higher than Intake in the same period.

Figure 8: Female Intake to and Outflow from the Future Reserves 2020 for the 12 months ending 30 September 2023

Ethnic Origin and Nationality

UK Regular Forces and Future Reserves 2020 Strengths

Declaration of ethnic origin is not mandatory for Armed Forces personnel. These statistics relate to personnel with a known ethnicity. At 1 October 2023, the percentage of personnel who declared an ethnicity was:

UK Regular Forces 99.9%
Future Reserves 2020 99.6%

Ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) personnel accounted for 10.6 per cent of the UK Regular Forces (14,690 personnel), at 1 October 2023. Since 2009, Gurkha personnel have been able to transfer into the Army, and the number of Trade Trained personnel reporting a Nepalese nationality increased from 520 as at 1 April 2012 to 880 as at 1 October 2019 and subsequently declined. The number of Trade Trained personnel reporting a Nepalese nationality is currently at 640, almost of all whom are UK Regular personnel in the Army, see Table 5a.

Ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) personnel accounted for 6.2 per cent of the Future Reserves 2020 (2,040 personnel), as at 1 October 2023.

For both the UK Regular Forces and the Future Reserves 2020, the Army and Army Reserve represent the largest parts of the UK Armed forces and have the greatest proportion of ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) personnel, accounting for approximately 80.9 per cent of all ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) personnel.

As at 1 October 2023, 95.3 per cent of the UK Regular Forces and 98.9 per cent of the Future Reserves 2020 had a UK nationality. The difference in nationality between the UK Regular Forces and the Future Reserves 2020 can partially be explained by different eligibility requirements.

Figure 9: Ethnicity of UK Regular and Future Reserves 2020 Personnel as at 1 October 2023

At 1 October 2023, ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) personnel represented:

  • 3.2 per cent of Officers and 12.4 per cent of Other Ranks in the UK Regular Forces.
  • 4.8 per cent of Officers and 6.7 per cent of Other Ranks in the Future Reserves 2020.

As shown in Figure 10 almost two fifths (39.1 per cent) of ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) personnel in UK regular forces did not have UK Nationality compared to only 7.2 per cent of ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) personnel in the Future Reserves 2020.

Figure 10: Percentage of ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) and White personnel with UK and Non-UK Nationalities as at 1 October 2023

Intake and Outflow

UK Regular Forces

Ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) personnel accounted for 13.3 per cent of Intake into the UK Regular Forces in the 12 months to 30 September 2023, while they represented 5.8 per cent of outflow during the same period, see Figure 11. In the 12 months ending 30 September 2023, the proportion of ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) personnel of a Non-UK Nationality joining the UK Regular Forces has increased from 31.4 per cent to 53.9 per cent against the same time period last year, which is largely explained by the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the ability of individuals to travel to the UK and join the Armed Forces.

Figure 11: Ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) Intake to and Outflow from UK Regular Forces for the 12 months ending 30 September 2023

Ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) personnel represented 5.8 per cent of Outflow from the UK Regular Forces in the 12 months to 30 September 2023. Outflow has been generally stable for ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) since the 12 months ending 30 September 2016. Prior to this, there was a steady decreasing trend since the 12 months ending 31 March 2014 (Figure 11).

Future Reserves 2020

Ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) personnel represent 7.0 per cent of Intake in the 12 months ending 30 September 2023, this has decreased 1.1 per cent since the 12 months ending 30 September 2022. Figure 12 shows that since the 12 months ending 30 September 2022 the proportion of Intake who are ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) into:

  • The FR20 Maritime Reserve population has decreased by 0.6 percentage points to 3.8 per cent
  • The FR20 Army Reserve population has decreased by 0.9 percentage points to 7.5 per cent
  • The FR20 RAF Reserve population has decreased by 1.2 percentage points to 7.4 per cent

Figure 12: Ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) Intake to the Future Reserves 2020 by Service as at 1 October 2023

Religion

UK Regular Forces and Future Reserves 2020 Strengths

Declaration of Religion is not mandatory for Armed Forces personnel. These statistics only relate to personnel who have made a declaration. At 1 October 2023 the proportion of personnel who had made a declaration was:

UK Regular Forces 99.3%
Future Reserves 2020 98.8%

At 1 October 2023, 56.4 per cent of the UK Regular Forces and 66.6 per cent of the Future Reserves 2020 declared a Christian religion. Both have seen a decrease in the last year of 2.2 and 1.3 percentage points respectively, which is also in line with the long-term decreasing trend.

Figure 13: Religion of the UK Regular Forces and Future Reserves 2020 as at 1 October 2023

Figure 14 shows the percentage of UK Regular and Future Reserve 2020 personnel who declare “No Religion” on JPA. In the UK Regulars it has increased from 15.5 per cent as at 1 October 2012 to 38.8 per cent at 1 October 2023. Similarly, for the reserves it has increased from 17.7 per cent as at 1 October 2012 to 30.1 per cent at 1 October 2023.

Figure 14: UK Regular and Future Reserves 2020 declaring no religion as at 1 October 2023

Age

UK Regular Forces and Future Reserves 2020 Strengths

Average age statistics are calculated using the mean. Age is age at last birthday. Average ages as at 1 October 2023 were:

Total Officer Other Ranks
UK Regular Forces 31 37 30
Future Reserves 2020 39 44 37

As at 1 October 2023, 25.2 per cent of the UK Regular Forces and 8.6 per cent of the Future Reserves 2020 were under 25 years old. In the last year, this has decreased by 0.3 percentage points in the UK Regulars and decreased by 0.5 percentage points in the Future Reserves 2020. Of the Officers, 7.4 per cent of the UK Regular Forces and 4.6 per cent of the Future Reserves 2020 were under 25 years old. Of the Other Ranks 29.7 per cent in the UK Regular Forces and 9.9 per cent in the Future Reserve 2020 were under the age of 25.

Figure 15 below indicates that Officers in the UK Regulars are generally younger than Officers in the Future Reserves 2020. As at 1 October 2023 the average age for Officers in the UK Regular Forces was 37 years old compared to the Future Reserves 2020 where the average age was 44 years old.

Figure 16 below shows that the average age of Other Ranks in the UK Regular Forces is also younger than the Future Reserves 2020. As at 1 October 2023 the average age for the UK Regular Forces Other Ranks was 7 years younger than the Future Reserves 2020.

In the 12 months to 30 September 2023, 61.6% of those joining the Future Reserves 2020 had previously served in the UK Armed Forces (Quarterly Service Personnel Statistics, table 7b). This explains, in part, why the age profile is higher for the Future Reserves 2020.

Figure 15: Age of Officers in the UK Regular Forces and the Future Reserves 2020 as at 1 October 2023

As at 1 October 2023 the average age for Officers in the UK Regular Forces was 37 years old compared to the Future Reserves 2020 where the average age was 44 years old.

Figure 16: Age of Other Ranks in the UK Regular Forces and the Future Reserves 2020 as at 1 October 2023

As at 1 October 2023 the average age for the UK Regular Forces Other Ranks was 7 years younger than the Future Reserves 2020.

Intake and Outflow

In the 12 months ending 30 September 2023, 11.8 per cent of Intake to the UK Regular Forces were Officers (1,240 personnel). Figure 17 shows that, of this total, 7.4 per cent were aged 30 and over and the remaining 92.6 per cent were aged 18 to 29. UK Regular Officer Intake age profiles are heavily influenced by personnel joining having left higher education, with 63.1 per cent of all officer Intake occurring between ages 20 and 24. Similarly regular Other Ranks are heavily influenced by those leaving secondary or tertiary education with 51.0 per cent of UK Regular Other Ranks joining under the age of 20. There has been a decrease in the 12 months to 30 September 2023 against the same period to 30 September 2022, where the Intake of Other Ranks in the UK Regular Forces, under the age of 18, has decreased by 1.1 per cent.

In the 12 months ending 30 September 2023, 18.5 per cent of Intake to the Future Reserves 2020 were Officers (700 personnel). Figure 17 shows that, of this total, 68.3 per cent were aged 30 and over and the remaining 31.7 per cent were aged 18 to 29. Within this time period, Officers aged 20-24, have had the highest Intake and 60 and overs had the largest Outflow. There is a larger Intake of personnel in the age group of over 50 in comparison to the UK Regular Forces, this could be explained by the different eligibility requirements between UK Regulars Forces and Future Reserves 2020.

Figure 17: UK Regulars and Future Reserves 2020 intake by Age for the 12 months ending 30 September 2023

The first point at which Regular personnel can leave voluntarily is normally after 4 years of Service for personnel aged over 18. Each Service has slightly different guidelines.

Figure 18: UK Regulars and Future Reserves 2020 outflow by Age for the 12 months ending 30 September 2023

Sexual Orientation

Declaration of sexual orientation is not mandatory for Armed Forces personnel. These statistics relate to personnel with a known Sexual Orientation. As at 1 October 2023, the percentage of personnel who declared a Sexual Orientation was:

UK Regular Forces 31.2%
Future Reserves 2020 9.6%

UK Regular Forces

As at 1 October 2023, 31.2 per cent of Regular service personnel declared a Sexual Orientation. There were 34.4 per cent of Officers and 30.4 per cent of Other Ranks declaring a Sexual Orientation.

Figure 19 below shows a service breakdown of the overall declaration rate across the UK Regular Forces, with Army having the highest rate (37.5 per cent), followed by Royal Navy/Royal Marines and RAF at 24.8 and 22.4 per cent respectively.

Future Reserves 2020

As at 1 October 2023, 9.6 per cent of FR20 service personnel have declared a Sexual Orientation. The declaration rate is higher amongst officers (17.0 per cent) when compared with Other Ranks (7.2 per cent).

Figure 19 shows the breakdown of the declaration rate by each service. FR20 Maritime Reserve have the highest proportion (17.4 per cent), followed by FR20 RAF Reserves and FR20 Army Reserves at 13.6 and 8.1 per cent respectively.

There is a large difference between the declaration rates of the UK Regular Forces and the Future Reserves 2020.

Figure 19: Sexual Orientation declaration rate across UK Regular Forces and Future Reserves 2020 split by service as at 1 October 2023

The sexual orientation breakdowns, recorded on JPA, will be provided in future edition of this publication once declaration rates reach a high enough percentage to be representative.

Maternity

Background

In August 1990, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) underwent a change in policy so that female service personnel who became pregnant did not have to leave the Services. They were given the right to return to work after a period of unpaid leave in line with the statutory provisions for civilian women.

At present, female service personnel are entitled to 26 weeks of Ordinary Maternity Leave and 26 weeks of Additional Maternity Leave. Servicewomen who have completed a year’s continuous service by the Qualifying Week (the 15th week before the beginning of the week in which the baby is due) and who return to duty to complete a Return of Service commitment following their maternity leave, receive 26 weeks’ full pay, 13 weeks of Additional Maternity Leave paid at the statutory pay rate, followed by 13 weeks’ of unpaid leave. Servicewomen who do not meet the criteria of a year’s continuous service receive statutory pay for 39 weeks. These statistics cover both Ordinary and Additional Maternity Leave.

Tables outlining the number and percentage returning from maternity leave are presented by the number of weeks that female service personnel return within (see Excel Tables). The category 27 weeks or less includes all those taking up to and including the limit for fully paid Ordinary Maternity Leave, the category 27 to 40 weeks encompasses personnel also taking up to and including the limit of paid Additional Maternity Leave and More than 40 weeks includes all personnel taking fully paid Ordinary and Additional Maternity leave and some or all of the further 13 weeks unpaid Additional Maternity leave.

In April 2015, Shared Parental Leave was introduced for members of the armed forces. This allows eligible parents to choose how to share the care of their child during the child’s first year following birth or adoption and is designed to give parents more flexibility in deciding how best to care for their child. Statistics in this publication do not encompass shared parental leave.

A mother must take the two week compulsory maternity leave period and an adopter must take the first two weeks of adoption leave before they can end their maternity or adoption leave. The balance of leave, up to 50 weeks, can be converted into Shared Parental Leave and shared between the parents. Qualifying parents can also share up to 37 weeks of pay between them. The armed forces scheme offers up to 26 weeks of full pay for qualifying parents.

This report contains numbers and percentages for personnel taking maternity leave, returning from maternity leave, not returning from maternity leave, returning then leaving the Services and still in Service as at 1 October 2023.

Further Data Quality Information

The statistics reported are for UK Regular Forces personnel and therefore exclude Gurkhas, Full Time Reserve Service personnel and mobilised reservists. Because the statistics require at least 1 year passing after the end of the calendar year, to include all those returning and allow monitoring of the exits of those who returned, statistics for calendar year 2021 are published in this release.

Statistics are provided tracking the population that returned after maternity leave for each calendar year with detail of those returning then leaving service (and within what timescale) and those still on strength. Exit information in this report is based on outflow figures up to 30 September 2022. Due to the fact these categories are dependent on the passing of several years since they took maternity leave, these categories change and update year on year between reports.

Note: The Maternity statistics contained within this publication do not include Shared Parental Leave data.

Personnel Taking Maternity Leave

During 2022, 740 female Service personnel took maternity leave; this is 4.5 per cent of the strength of female personnel for the year. This is the same rate in comparison with 2021 where 4.5 per cent of female personnel took maternity leave.

Figure 20: Percentage of Female Officers and Other Ranks Personnel Taking Maternity Leave

Figure 20 shows that a slightly higher percentage of Other Ranks (4.5 per cent) took maternity leave in 2022 compared with Officers (4.3 per cent).

The peak (in 2016) in percentage of Officers is driven by an increase in the number of female Officers in the Royal Navy/Royal Marines taking Maternity leave.

Figure 21: Percentage of Female Personnel Taking Maternity Leave by Service, in 2022

Figure 21 shows that amongst Officers, the Army has the highest proportion of women taking maternity leave (5.4 per cent), followed by the Royal Navy/Royal Marines (4.0 per cent) and the RAF (3.3 per cent). Within the Other Ranks, the Army has the highest proportion of women taking maternity leave (4.9 per cent) followed by the Royal Navy/Royal Marines (4.4 per cent) and the RAF (3.9 per cent).

Personnel Returning to Work

Overall, as at 1 October 2023 of the personnel that went on maternity leave during 2022, 96.6 per cent returned to work.

Overall, as at 1 October 2023, of the female personnel that went on maternity leave during 2022, the majority returned to work between 27 to 40 weeks, shown in Figure 22.

Figure 22: Percentage of personnel returning from Maternity Leave within, as at 1 October 2023

Retention of Personnel Following Maternity Leave

Of the overall female personnel taking maternity leave in 2022, 3.4 per cent did not return to work. As at 1 October 2023, 42.7 per cent of those who took maternity leave in 2017 and returned have now left service.

Of the overall female personnel returning to work after maternity leave in 2017, 13.0 per cent returned for a year or less before leaving. This proportion has remained broadly flat across the succeeding years to 2017-20. Equivalent analysis cannot be undertaken for personnel that took maternity in 2022 as enough time has not elapsed.

There are many reasons why Service personnel may choose to leave the Armed Forces. In the statistics above, personnel choosing not to return to work, or later choosing to leave Service, may be due to factors unrelated to maternity leave.

Background and Context

Diversity statistics are reported to meet the Department’s obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty to provide information on its workforce in relation to the protected characteristics identified by the Equality Act 2010.

MOD publicises the importance placed on the Armed Forces being appropriately representative of the diverse society they exist to defend and states that ‘operational effectiveness depends on cohesion and teamwork, which are enhanced by treating everyone fairly, with dignity and respect’.

Army Trained Strength

On 29th June 2016, the MOD announced that the Army will in future plan to use Regular and Reserve Phase 1 trained personnel in response to crises within the UK. Following this, the term ‘Trained Strength’ will 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 it will have on this publication and a consultation response was published on 7 November 2016.

Army personnel who have completed Phase 1 training (basic Service training) but not Phase 2 training (trade training), are now considered Trained personnel. This change will enable 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.

Recent changes to the structure of the UK Armed Forces

In order to meet the manpower reduction targets set out in SDSR 2010, the Three Month Exercise (3ME) and Army 2020 (A2020), 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 the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 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 (RN/RM) and RAF by a total of 700 personnel. The SDSR 2015 Defence Key Facts booklet announced new targets for 2020 for each of the Services. In parallel, there have been increases in the Reserve populations; the Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) programme aims to increase the size of the Reserve Forces. Further personnel statistics and information on these changes can be found in the Quarterly Service Personnel Statistics.

Gender

The former Prime Minister announced on 8 July 2016 that the exemption on women serving in ground close combat (GCC) roles would be lifted, with roles opening up on an incremental basis starting with the Royal Armoured Corps. The decision to lift the exclusion was on the basis of equality of opportunity and maximising talent. Roles that were previously excluded to women were the Royal Marines General Service, the Household Cavalry and Royal Armoured Corps, the Infantry and the Royal Air Force Regiment. From November 2016 women are able to join the Royal Armoured Corps, both Regular and Reserve. The RAF brought this forward and the RAF Regiment opened to women on 1 September 2017. The remaining ground close combat roles opened to women in late 2018, after additional health mitigations were put in place. There are no quotas for women joining GCC roles and applications are treated in the same way as for all other roles. Additionally, there has been no lowering of standards for women joining GCC roles. Since 2019 all roles with the Armed Forces have been open to women, with the exception of Gurkhas. The Armed Forces are exempt from elements of the employment provisions of the Equality Act 2010 for reasons of combat effectiveness.

Ethnic origin and Nationality

Under the SDSR 2010, one of the areas reviewed was the Commonwealth recruitment rules. The MOD reintroduced the five-years UK residency requirement for future new recruits from Commonwealth countries in July 2013. This did not affect personnel already serving, or going through the recruitment process at the time of the announcement, those from the Republic of Ireland or for the Brigade of Gurkhas.

In November 2018, MOD removed the five year UK residency requirement for Commonwealth citizens wishing to apply to join the Regular Armed Forces, increasing recruitment to up to 1,350 per annum across Defence. This five year UK residency requirement was imposed in July 2013, although a limited waiver occurred in May 2016, allowing up to 200 Commonwealth personnel to be recruited per annum to fill skill shortage roles.  Similarly to the July 2013 and May 2016 changes, the November 18 change was announced via a Written Ministerial Statement (WMS). Further information on residency rules can be found in the links below:

Information on the nationality eligibility criteria for each of the Services is available at:

Further Information

Symbols

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

Italic figures are used for percentages and other rates, except where otherwise indicated.

Rounding

Figures in this publication (apart from some gender statistics) 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.

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 convenience these corrections may be timed to coincide with the next annual release of the publication.

Useful definitions

Christian includes personnel declaring a Christian or Christian Tradition religion.

No religion includes personnel who have self-identified as having no religion on JPA, including personnel declaring themselves as Agnostic, Atheist, Humanist and Secularist. This does not include personnel with an unrecorded religion.

UK Nationality includes any individuals whose nationality is recorded on the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) database as Anguilla, Bermuda, British, British Hong Kong, British Overseas Territories, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands or Turks and Caicos Islands. More details can be found on the gov.uk website.

A full glossary is available at the gov.uk website.

Contact Us

Analysis (Tri-Service) welcome feedback on our statistical products. If you have any comments or questions about this publication or about our statistics in general, you can contact us as follows:

Responsible statistician: Tri-Service Head of Branch
Email: DefStrat-Stat-Tri-Hd@mod.gov.uk

If you wish to correspond by mail, our postal address is:

Analysis (Tri-Service)
Ministry of Defence, Main Building
Floor 3 Zone M
Whitehall
London
SW1A 2HB

Other contact points within the Ministry of Defence for Statistics are listed below.

Defence Expenditure Analysis: Email: DefStrat-Econ-ESES-PQFOI@mod.gov.uk

Naval Service Workforce: Email: Analysis-Navy@mod.gov.uk

Army Workforce: Email: defstrat-stat-army-enquiries@mod.uk

RAF Workforce: Email: Analysis-Air@mod.uk

Tri-service Workforce: Email: Analysis-Tri-Service@mod.gov.uk

Civilian Workforce: Email: defstrat-stat-civenquiries@mod.gov.uk

Health Information: Email: defstrat-stat-health-pq-foi@mod.gov.uk

Please note that these email addresses may change later in the year.

Freedom of Information requests

If you require information which is not available within this or other available publications, you may wish to submit a Request for Information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. See guidance on how to make an FOI request.

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Would you like to be added to our contact list, so that we can inform you about updates to these statistics and consult you if we are thinking of making changes? You can subscribe to updates by emailing Analysis-Tri-Service (MULTIUSER) Analysis-Tri-Service@mod.gov.uk.

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