“Committed to improve”: Fully trained Royal Navy, Army and RAF personnel falls despite recruitment uptick

Ministry of Defence personnel statistics show the number of Full-Time Trained Strength (FTTS) staff in the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army, and RAF, has fallen steadily over the past three years. This worsens as more experienced people leave the armed forces behind.

The government is pushing to improve recruitment, retention, and training, with less people now leaving and more new recruits being brought in. Conservative MP for Stockton West, Matt Vickers, asked the government for its recent assessment of the situation.

Labour minister for veterans and people, Louise Sandher-Jones, said: “The figures in the latest reporting period highlight that for the first time since early 2021, armed forces intake is now greater than outflow. In the 12 months preceding October 1, 2025, there was an increase of 13 per cent in people joining the armed forces compared to the previous 12-month period.

“At the same time there was a decrease of eight per cent in people leaving the Armed Forces. In addition to this, the armed forces continue to see increased numbers of applications. These trends are very welcome, but we recognise that there is still more to do.”

Armed forces recruitment data breakdown

The government has been pushing to restore recruitment and retention in the forces by implementing successive pay rises and other policies. This includes removing health policies which were blocking people from joining the military, including those with hay fever, eczema and acne.

The number of Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel has grown from 37,500 to 37,880 between October 2024 to 2025, an increase of one per cent. Despite the small rise, this is still lower than 39,410 in October 2022.

The RAF has seen a similar increase in the same time period - 0.9 per cent - but there has been a -0.2 per cent fall in the British Army. Both forces are smaller than in October 2022. Overall, the total number of armed forces personnel has risen from 180,780 to 182,060 between October 2024 and 25, but this is still over 10,000 less than in October 2022, where the forces had 192,300 personnel.

A major challenge facing the military is the number of FTTS personnel. According to the MoD, this includes regular forces who have gone through Phase One training in the Army, and Phase Two training in the Royal Navy/Royal Marines and RAF.

For the Royal Navy, FTTS sailors have shrank from 29,500 in October 2022 to 27,560 in October 2025 - a fall of 1.1 per cent between 2024 and 2025. Across the armed forces, figures have dropped from 134,940 in October 2022 to 125,680 in October 2025.

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Ms Sandher-Jones added: “We are committed to improving recruitment and retention through a range of targets, initiatives and measures and we are making a positive impact.”

An MoD spokesperson added: “We are pleased to be reversing the trend of decline, with more people joining our Armed Forces than leaving for the first time in four years. But we know there is more to do to reverse the hollowing out which has been seen in previous years.

“We are taking decisive action, including speeding up the process for those wishing to rejoin the Armed Forces, giving personnel the largest pay rise in decades and scrapping 100 outdated recruitment policies, and legislating the first-ever Armed Forces Commissioner to improve service life.”