Armed forces workforce
Published
- 1. Navigate toMain facts and figures section
- 2. Navigate toThings you need to know section
- 3. Navigate to By ethnicity, service and rank section
- 4. Navigate to By ethnicity and service over time (officer ranks) section
- 5. Navigate to By ethnicity and service over time (other ranks) section
- 6. Navigate to By ethnicity and rank section
- 7. Navigate toData sources section
- 8. Navigate toDownload the data section
1. Main facts and figures
- in April 2024, people from ethnic minorities (not including white minorities) made up 3.3% of officers in the UK regular armed forces, compared with 2.4% in April 2012
- for other ranks, 13.1% of armed forces personnel were from ethnic minorities, compared with 7.9% in April 2012
- out of the different armed forces, the Army had the highest percentage of people from ethnic minorities in both officer roles (3.6%) and other ranks (18.9%)
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data shows the percentage of people working in the UK regular armed forces, by ethnicity. Figures are based on a headcount of people employed by the armed forces on 1 April each year.
The data includes people working for the:
- Army
- Royal Air Force
- Royal Navy (including the Royal Marines)
Officer ranks begin ‘OF’, and range from OF-10 (Field Marshal) to OF-1 (junior officers).
Other ranks begin ‘OR’, and range from OR-9 (Warrant Officer I) to OR-1 (Private or Marine).
Percentages have been rounded to 1 decimal place. The numbers of armed forces personnel are rounded to the nearest 10 people.
Not included in the data
The data does not include people working for the reserve forces.
Data for groups smaller than 6 people is not shown. This is to protect people’s confidentiality and because the numbers involved are too small to make reliable generalisations.
The ethnic groups used in the data
Data is shown for 2 ethnic groups:
- White – white ethnic groups (including white British and white ethnic minorities)
- ‘Other’ – all other ethnic minorities
This is because the number of people was too small to make reliable generalisations about specific ethnic groups.
Percentages are calculated out of people whose ethnicity was known. In April 2024, ethnicity was known for 99.0% of people working in the armed forces.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for the data on this page.
Gurkha personnel have been able to transfer into the Army since 2009. This may partly explain the larger percentage of people from ethnic minorities in the Army compared with the other armed forces.
In the data file
Download the data for:
- numbers and percentage of armed forces personnel by rank title, rank and service
- the full name of each rank for each service of the armed forces
- data from the April and October updates from 2012 onwards
3. By ethnicity, service and rank
| Officers | Other ranks | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service | Officers Other ethnic groups (%) | Officers Number of personnel | Officers White (%) | Officers Number of personnel | Other ranks Other ethnic groups (%) | Other ranks Number of personnel | Other ranks White (%) | Other ranks Number of personnel |
| All Services | 3.3 | 900 | 96.7 | 26,400 | 13.1 | 14,420 | 86.9 | 95,570 |
| Army | 3.6 | 460 | 96.4 | 12,200 | 18.9 | 11,830 | 81.1 | 50,710 |
| Royal Air Force | 3.3 | 250 | 96.7 | 7,330 | 4.4 | 1,000 | 95.6 | 21,720 |
| Royal Navy/Royal Marines | 2.7 | 190 | 97.3 | 6,880 | 6.4 | 1,580 | 93.6 | 23,140 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity, service and rank’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity, service and rank’ (CSV)
Summary of Armed forces workforce By ethnicity, service and rank Summary
The data shows that, in April 2024, people from ethnic minorities (not including white minorities) made up:
- 3.3% of officers in the armed forces and 13.1% of other ranks
- 3.6% of officers in the Army, 3.3% in the Royal Air Force, and 2.7% in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines
- 18.9% of people in other (non-officer) ranks in the Army, 4.4% in the Royal Air Force, and 6.4% in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines
4. By ethnicity and service over time (officer ranks)
| All Services | Army | Royal Air Force | Royal Navy/Royal Marines | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | All Services % | All Services Number of personnel | Army % | Army Number of personnel | Royal Air Force % | Royal Air Force Number of personnel | Royal Navy/Royal Marines % | Royal Navy/Royal Marines Number of personnel |
| Apr-12 | 2.4 | 720 | 2.8 | 400 | 2.3 | 190 | 1.8 | 130 |
| Apr-13 | 2.4 | 670 | 2.7 | 370 | 2.3 | 180 | 1.8 | 120 |
| Apr-14 | 2.4 | 640 | 2.7 | 360 | 2.3 | 170 | 1.8 | 120 |
| Apr-15 | 2.3 | 630 | 2.7 | 350 | 2.2 | 160 | 1.8 | 120 |
| Apr-16 | 2.4 | 630 | 2.8 | 350 | 2.2 | 160 | 1.8 | 120 |
| Apr-17 | 2.4 | 640 | 2.9 | 360 | 2.1 | 150 | 1.9 | 120 |
| Apr-18 | 2.4 | 660 | 2.9 | 370 | 2.2 | 160 | 1.9 | 130 |
| Apr-19 | 2.5 | 670 | 2.8 | 360 | 2.3 | 170 | 2.0 | 130 |
| Apr-20 | 2.6 | 700 | 2.9 | 380 | 2.5 | 190 | 1.9 | 130 |
| Apr-21 | 2.7 | 750 | 3.0 | 400 | 2.6 | 200 | 2.1 | 150 |
| Apr-22 | 2.8 | 800 | 3.1 | 410 | 3.0 | 230 | 2.2 | 150 |
| Apr-23 | 3.0 | 840 | 3.3 | 430 | 3.2 | 240 | 2.5 | 170 |
| Apr-24 | 3.3 | 900 | 3.6 | 460 | 3.3 | 250 | 2.7 | 190 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and service over time (officer ranks)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and service over time (officer ranks)’ (CSV)
Summary of Armed forces workforce By ethnicity and service over time (officer ranks) Summary
The data shows that, from April 2012 to April 2024:
- the percentage of officers in the armed forces who were from ethnic minorities (not including white minorities) went up from 2.4% to 3.3%
- the percentage of Army officers from ethnic minorities went up from 2.8% to 3.6%
- the percentage of Royal Air Force officers from ethnic minorities went up from 2.3% to 3.3%
- the percentage of Royal Navy and Royal Marines officers from ethnic minorities went up from 1.8% to 2.7%
5. By ethnicity and service over time (other ranks)
| All Services | Army | Royal Air Force | Royal Navy/Royal Marines | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | All Services % | All Services Number of personnel | Army % | Army Number of personnel | Royal Air Force % | Royal Air Force Number of personnel | Royal Navy/Royal Marines % | Royal Navy/Royal Marines Number of personnel |
| Apr-12 | 7.9 | 11,580 | 11.1 | 9,900 | 1.9 | 580 | 4.0 | 1,110 |
| Apr-13 | 8.1 | 11,360 | 11.4 | 9,770 | 2.0 | 550 | 3.9 | 1,040 |
| Apr-14 | 8.1 | 10,560 | 11.6 | 9,000 | 2.0 | 530 | 3.9 | 1,020 |
| Apr-15 | 8.0 | 10,050 | 11.5 | 8,500 | 2.1 | 530 | 4.0 | 1,020 |
| Apr-16 | 8.0 | 9,860 | 11.5 | 8,310 | 2.2 | 560 | 3.9 | 990 |
| Apr-17 | 8.3 | 10,040 | 11.9 | 8,460 | 2.3 | 580 | 3.9 | 1,010 |
| Apr-18 | 8.7 | 10,320 | 12.6 | 8,620 | 2.4 | 590 | 4.3 | 1,100 |
| Apr-19 | 9.0 | 10,510 | 13.1 | 8,670 | 2.7 | 660 | 4.6 | 1,180 |
| Apr-20 | 10.3 | 12,050 | 15.0 | 9,960 | 2.9 | 720 | 5.3 | 1,360 |
| Apr-21 | 10.8 | 12,940 | 15.4 | 10,610 | 3.5 | 870 | 5.5 | 1,460 |
| Apr-22 | 11.2 | 13,310 | 16.2 | 10,910 | 3.7 | 920 | 5.6 | 1,480 |
| Apr-23 | 11.8 | 13,480 | 17.1 | 11,020 | 4.0 | 960 | 5.9 | 1,500 |
| Apr-24 | 13.1 | 14,420 | 18.9 | 11,830 | 4.4 | 1,000 | 6.4 | 1,580 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and service over time (other ranks)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and service over time (other ranks)’ (CSV)
Summary of Armed forces workforce By ethnicity and service over time (other ranks) Summary
The data shows that, from April 2012 to April 2024:
- the percentage of people in other (non-officer) ranks who were from ethnic minorities (not including white minorities) went up from 7.9% to 13.1%
- out of the different armed forces, the Royal Air Force consistently had the lowest percentage of people from ethnic minorities in other ranks, despite going up from 1.9% to 4.4%
- the Army had the biggest increase in the percentage of people from ethnic minorities in other ranks, from 11.1% to 18.9%
- the percentage of people from ethnic minorities in other ranks in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines went up from 4.0% to 6.4%
6. By ethnicity and rank
| Other ethnic groups | White | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank code | Other ethnic groups % | Other ethnic groups Number of personnel | White % | White Number of personnel |
| All Officers | 3.3 | 900 | 96.7 | 26,400 |
| OF-1(D) | 5.4 | 230 | 94.6 | 4,020 |
| OF-2 | 3.5 | 350 | 96.5 | 9,490 |
| OF-3 | 2.5 | 200 | 97.5 | 7,680 |
| OF-4 | 2.5 | 100 | 97.5 | 3,680 |
| OF-5 | 1.7 | 20 | 98.3 | 1,070 |
| OF-6 and above | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality | 450 |
| All Other Ranks | 13.1 | 14,420 | 86.9 | 95,570 |
| OR-1/OR-2 | 14.5 | 6,180 | 85.5 | 36,470 |
| OR-3 | 17.3 | 2,130 | 82.7 | 10,180 |
| OR-4 | 12.3 | 2,830 | 87.7 | 20,250 |
| OR-6 | 10.9 | 1,690 | 89.1 | 13,860 |
| OR-7 | 9.9 | 960 | 90.1 | 8,700 |
| OR-8 | 12.0 | 500 | 88.0 | 3,640 |
| OR-9 | 5.2 | 140 | 94.8 | 2,480 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and rank’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and rank’ (CSV)
Summary of Armed forces workforce By ethnicity and rank Summary
The data shows that:
- out of all officer ranks, the percentage of people from ethnic minorities (not including white minorities) was highest in ‘OF-1(D)’ – the lowest officer rank (5.4%)
- it was lowest in ‘OF-5’ – equivalent to Lieutenant Colonel in the Army (1.7%)
- out of all other ranks, the percentage of people from ethnic minorities was highest in ‘OR-3’ – equivalent to Lance Corporal (17.3%) – it was lowest in the highest ranks (5.2% in OR-9, equivalent to Warrant Officer I)
7. Data sources
Source
UK armed forces biannual diversity statistics: 2024
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Ministry of Defence
Publication frequency
Twice a year
Purpose of data source
The main purpose of these statistics is to:
- inform policy and decision-making within the Ministry of Defence (MOD)
- measure the performance of the MOD against government and Parliament targets
- inform general debate in government, Parliament and the public
8. Download the data
This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, time, service, rank, nato_code, rank_title, geography, value, numerator