- 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 (non-officer 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 October 2018, people from ethnic minorities (not including white minorities) made up 2.5% of officers in the UK regular armed forces, compared with 2.4% in April 2012
- for ranks below officer, 8.8% of armed forces personnel were from ethnic minorities, compared with 7.9% in April 2012
- among the different armed forces, the Army had the highest percentage of people from ethnic minorities in both officer and non-officer roles
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.
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.
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 October 2018, ethnicity was known for 99% of people working in the armed forces.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document (PDF opens in a new window or tab) 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 of armed forces personnel rounded to the nearest 10 people.
3. By ethnicity, service and rank
| Officers | Other Ranks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service | Officers White | Officers Other ethnic groups | Other Ranks White | Other Ranks Other ethnic groups |
| All Services | 97.5 | 2.5 | 91.2 | 8.8 |
| Army | 97.2 | 2.8 | 87.1 | 12.9 |
| Royal Air Force | 97.7 | 2.3 | 97.5 | 2.5 |
| Royal Navy/Royal Marines | 98.0 | 2.0 | 95.5 | 4.5 |
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 October 2018, people from ethnic minorities (not including white minorities) made up:
- 2.5% of officers in the armed forces and 8.8% of other ranks
- 2.8% of officers in the Army, 2.3% in the Royal Air Force, and 2.0% in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines
- 12.9% of people in non-officer roles in the Army, 4.5% in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, and 2.5% in the Royal Air Force
4. By ethnicity and service over time (officer ranks)
| Ethnicity | Apr-12 | Oct-12 | Apr-13 | Oct-13 | Apr-14 | Oct-14 | Apr-15 | Oct-15 | Apr-16 | Oct-16 | Apr-17 | Oct-17 | Apr-18 | Oct-18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| All Services | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.5 |
| Army | 2.8 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 2.8 |
| Royal Air Force | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 2.3 |
| Royal Navy/Royal Marines | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 2.0 |
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 October 2018:
- the percentage of officers in the armed forces who were from ethnic minorities (not including white minorities) went up from 2.4% to 2.5%
- the percentage of Army officers from ethnic minorities stayed the same (2.8%)
- the percentage of RAF officers from ethnic minorities stayed the same (2.3%)
- the percentage of Royal Navy and Royal Marines officers from ethnic minorities went up from 1.8% to 2.0%
5. By ethnicity and service over time (non-officer ranks)
| Service | Apr-12 | Oct-12 | Apr-13 | Oct-13 | Apr-14 | Oct-14 | Apr-15 | Oct-15 | Apr-16 | Oct-16 | Apr-17 | Oct-17 | Apr-18 | Oct-18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| All Services | 7.9 | 8.0 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.3 | 8.6 | 8.7 | 8.8 |
| Army | 11.1 | 11.3 | 11.4 | 11.6 | 11.6 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 11.6 | 11.9 | 12.5 | 12.7 | 12.9 |
| Royal Air Force | 1.9 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.5 |
| Royal Navy/Royal Marines | 4.0 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 4.5 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and service over time (non-officer ranks)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and service over time (non-officer ranks)’ (CSV)
Summary of Armed forces workforce By ethnicity and service over time (non-officer ranks) Summary
The data shows that, from April 2012 to October 2018:
- the percentage of people in non-officer ranks who were from ethnic minorities (not including white minorities) went up from 7.9% to 8.8%
- out of the different armed forces, the Royal Air Force consistently had the lowest percentage of people from ethnic minorities in non-officer ranks, despite going up from 1.9% to 2.5%
- the Army had the biggest increase in the percentage of people from ethnic minorities in non-officer ranks, from 11.1% to 12.9%
- the percentage of people from ethnic minorities in non-officer ranks in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines was consistently between 3.9% and 4.5%
6. By ethnicity and rank
| Rank code | White | Other than White |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| All Officers | 97.5 | 2.5 |
| OF-1(D) | 96.9 | 3.1 |
| OF-2 | 97.5 | 2.5 |
| OF-3 | 97.5 | 2.5 |
| OF-4 | 98.1 | 1.9 |
| OF-5 | 97.8 | 2.2 |
| OF-6 and above | 99.8 | withheld to protect confidentiality |
| All Other Ranks | 91.2 | 8.8 |
| OR-1/OR-2 | 92.1 | 7.9 |
| OR-3 | 84.7 | 15.3 |
| OR-4 | 89.8 | 10.2 |
| OR-6 | 91.8 | 8.2 |
| OR-7 | 94.3 | 5.7 |
| OR-8 | 94.8 | 5.2 |
| OR-9 | 98.5 | 1.5 |
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
Download the data for the full name of each rank for each service of the armed forces.
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, at 3.1%
- it was lowest in ‘OF-4’ (equivalent to Lieutenant Colonel in the Army), at 1.9%
- out of all non-officer ranks, the percentage of people from ethnic minorities was highest in ‘OR-3’ (equivalent to Lance Corporal), at 15.3%
- the percentage of staff from ethnic minorities in non-officer ranks went down as the ranks increased in seniority, with the highest ranks having the lowest percentages – 5.2% in rank ‘OR-8’ (Warrant Officer II) and 1.5% in rank ‘OR-9’ (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: ethnicity, year, service, rank, NATO code, value.