Armed Forces: Commonwealth
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Foreign and Commonwealth soldiers are in the UK Armed Forces, by nationality.
Answered by Luke Pollard
The number of non-UK personnel serving in the Trained and Trade Trained Strength of the Regular Armed Forces and the Brigade of Gurkhas as at 1 January 2025 is shown in the table(s) below.
Table 1: Number of Non-UK Regulars1 by Nationality2 as at 1 January 2025 | ||||
Nationality | Total | |||
British Hong Kong | 20 | |||
British Overseas Citizen | [c] | |||
British Overseas Territory Citizen | 40 | |||
Australian | 30 | |||
Bahamian | [c] | |||
Bangladeshi | 10 | |||
Barbadian | 10 | |||
Belizean | 20 | |||
Botswanan | 10 | |||
Cameroonian | 30 | |||
Canadian | 30 | |||
Citizen of Fiji | 2,270 | |||
Citizen of Seychelles | [c] | |||
Citizen of Sri Lanka | 10 | |||
Cypriot | [c] | |||
Dominican | 20 | |||
Gambian | 30 | |||
Ghanaian | 810 | |||
Grenadian | 170 | |||
Guyanese | [c] | |||
Indian | 90 | |||
Jamaican | 110 | |||
Kenyan | 230 | |||
Malawian | 220 | |||
Malaysian | [c] | |||
Maltese | [c] | |||
Mauritian | 20 | |||
Namibian | [c] | |||
Nepalese | 780 | |||
New Zealander | 30 | |||
Nigerian | 110 | |||
Pakistani | 10 | |||
Papua New Guinean | [c] | |||
Samoan | [c] | |||
Sierra Leonean | [c] | |||
Singaporean | [c] | |||
Solomon Islander | [c] | |||
South African | 280 | |||
St Lucian | 510 | |||
Swazi | [c] | |||
Tanzanian | 10 | |||
Tongan | [c] | |||
Trinidad and Tobago citizen | 60 | |||
Ugandan | 20 | |||
Vincentian | 1,300 | |||
Zambian | 10 | |||
Zimbabwean | 20 | |||
| ||||
Table 2: Number of Brigade of Gurkhas by Nationality2 as at 1 January 2025 | ||||||||
Nationality | Total | |||||||
Nepalese | 4,130 | |||||||
| ||||||||
Notes/Caveats
- UK Regulars comprise of Full Time Service Personnel, including Nursing Services, but excluding Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) personnel, Gurkhas, mobilised Reservists, Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS), Locally Engaged Personnel (LEP), Non-Regular Permanent Staff (NRPS), High Readiness Reserve (HRR) and Expeditionary Forces Institute (EFI) personnel. Unless otherwise stated, includes trained and untrained personnel.
- Nationality is as self-declared on the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA).
- Nepalese personnel in the Regulars are those that have transferred out of the Brigade of Gurkhas.
- Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 in line with disclosure control policy. Figures ending in 5 are rounded to the nearest 20 to avoid bias, 0 is represented by '-'. Figures below are represented by '[c]'.
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