Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the number of (a) regular (i) soldiers, (ii) sailors and (iii) airmen and (b) reserve (A) soldiers, (B) sailors and (C) airmen was by medical category for each year since 2001.
Under the Armed Forces Medical Deployability Standard (MDS) categories, Medically Fully Deployable (MFD) personnel are those who are medically fit for duty with no employment limitations.
Medically Limited Deployable (MLD) personnel are those medically fit for duty with minor employment limitations. They may have a medical condition or functional limitation that prevents the meeting of all MFD requirements. Medically Not Deployable (MND) personnel are those medically fit for duty with major employment limitations. They are not fit to deploy on operations but may be deployable on UK based exercises.
The following table shows the number of UK Regular Armed Forces personnel by MDS category in each year from 2010 to 2016, as at 1 April. Like for like data is not available before 2010.
| All | MFD | MLD | MND | MDS Not Known |
1 April 2010 | |||||
All Services | 177,897 | 143,253 | 18,101 | 13,615 | 2,928 |
Naval Service | 35,502 | 28,366 | 1,843 | 2,938 | 2,355 |
Army | 102,261 | 80,546 | 14,786 | 6,736 | 193 |
RAF | 40,134 | 34,341 | 1,472 | 3,941 | 380 |
1 April 2011 | |||||
All Services | 176,816 | 143,278 | 18,828 | 13,800 | 910 |
Naval Service | 35,426 | 29,793 | 1,995 | 2,882 | 756 |
Army | 101,303 | 79,092 | 15,217 | 6,952 | 42 |
RAF | 40,087 | 34,393 | 1,616 | 3,966 | 112 |
1 April 2012 | |||||
All Services | 170,010 | 137,866 | 17,866 | 14,211 | 67 |
Naval Service | 33,287 | 28,428 | 1,786 | 2,866 | 207 |
Army | 98,598 | 76,781 | 14,319 | 7,480 | 18 |
RAF | 38,125 | 32,657 | 1,561 | 3,865 | 42 |
1 April 2013 | |||||
All Services | 160,712 | 130,770 | 15,464 | 14,352 | 126 |
Naval Service | 31,423 | 26,799 | 1,825 | 2,697 | 102 |
Army | 93,939 | 73,668 | 12,237 | 8,021 | 13 |
RAF | 35,350 | 30,303 | 1,402 | 3,634 | 11 |
1 April 2014 | |||||
All Services | 150,891 | 122,616 | 13,811 | 14,396 | 68 |
Naval Service | 30,509 | 25,866 | 1,732 | 2,859 | 52 |
Army | 87,176 | 68,564 | 10,667 | 7,938 | 7 |
RAF | 33,206 | 28,186 | 1,412 | 3,599 | 9 |
1 April 2015 | |||||
All Services | 144,117 | 116,125 | 13,401 | 14,547 | 44 |
Naval Service | 30,058 | 25,338 | 1,846 | 2,840 | 34 |
Army | 82,231 | 63,854 | 10,122 | 8,246 | 9 |
RAF | 31,828 | 26,933 | 1,433 | 3,461 | 1 |
1 April 2016 | |||||
All Services | 140,432 | 112,024 | 13,551 | 14,822 | 35 |
Naval Service | 29,702 | 24,850 | 1,932 | 2,892 | 28 |
Army | 79,746 | 61,431 | 10,001 | 8,308 | 6 |
RAF | 30,984 | 25,743 | 1,618 | 3,622 | 1 |
Data for Future Reserves 2020 personnel is available from 2013 to 2016 and is as follows:
| All | MFD | MLD | MND | MDS Not Known |
1 April 2013 | |||||
All Services | 29,388 | 24,514 | 2,322 | 1,422 | 1,130 |
Maritime Reserves | 2,610 | 2,196 | 68 | 49 | 297 |
Army Reserves | 25,238 | 21,056 | 2,232 | 1,290 | 660 |
RAF Reserves | 1,540 | 1,262 | 22 | 83 | 173 |
1 April 2014 | |||||
All Services | 28,147 | 22,935 | 2,554 | 1,480 | 1,178 |
Maritime Reserves | 2,850 | 2,335 | 106 | 69 | 340 |
Army Reserves | 23,578 | 19,278 | 2,409 | 1,319 | 572 |
RAF Reserves | 1,719 | 1,322 | 39 | 92 | 266 |
1 April 2015 | |||||
All Services | 30,814 | 23,898 | 2,770 | 1,564 | 2,582 |
Maritime Reserves | 3,157 | 2,457 | 121 | 74 | 505 |
Army Reserves | 25,438 | 19,884 | 2,592 | 1,392 | 1,570 |
RAF Reserves | 2,219 | 1,557 | 57 | 98 | 507 |
1 April 2016 | |||||
All Services | 34,755 | 26,180 | 3,105 | 1,676 | 3,794 |
Maritime Reserves | 3,541 | 2,883 | 131 | 104 | 423 |
Army Reserves | 28,672 | 21,398 | 2,888 | 1,480 | 2,906 |
RAF Reserves | 2,542 | 1,899 | 86 | 92 | 465 |
Future Reserves 2020 personnel include volunteer reserves who are mobilised, High Readiness Reserves and volunteer reserve personnel serving on Additional Duties Commitment or Full Time Reserve Service contracts. Future Reserves 2020 also include sponsored Reserves, but excludes Regular Reserves, Non Regular Permanent Staff, Expeditionary Forces Institute and University Officer Cadets.