Figures showing that the UK Armed Forces are currently just under 98% of their full time trained strength requirement have been released today by the MOD. This is up from 96.8% a year ago and shows a continued upward trend in both recruitment and retention.

The statistics show that the number of people leaving the trained strength of the UK Regular Forces in the 12 months to 30 September 2009 has fallen by 21.9 per cent compared with the same period a year ago. Overall, the number of people leaving is at its lowest in five years.

A total of 24,230 new recruits have joined the UK Regular Forces in the 12 months to 30 September 2009, an increase of 12.6 per cent (2,720 people) compared to the previous 12 months. The number of people joining the Armed Forces is at its highest point since the 12 months to 31 March 2002.

These figures show that there were 18,270 untrained personnel (not including officers) at 1 October 2009, up from 15,540 at the same point last year. The number of untrained officers was up from 3,060 to 3,230 in the same period.

As at 1 October 2009, the full time trained strength of the UK Armed Forces was 174, 890 against a target of 178,490. This comprises 170,050 UK Regular Forces, 1,320 full time reserve service personnel and 3,520 Gurkhas.

Defence Minister Kevan Jones said:

“These latest manning figures are good news.  A career in the armed forces is challenging and rewarding and for young men and women who want to make a difference it’s a great choice.  The training and opportunities these careers offer, in a huge range of trades and professions, are undoubtedly second to none.”

Since 1 October 2008, the proportion of females in the UK Regular Forces has risen from 12.0 per cent to 12.1 per cent for officers and from 8.9 per cent to 9.0 per cent for other ranks.

The percentage of UK Regular Forces from ethnic minority backgrounds continues to rise; at 1 October 2009 ethnic minorities accounted for 6.6 per cent of UK Regular Forces compared to 6.3 per cent at the same point last year.

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