Compare UK Forces by year. Get a source you can cite.
Choose one service, one personnel population and two observed July dates. We show the arithmetic, official source vintages, a copy-ready attribution and downloadable graphic.
This is a headcount comparison, NOT a measure of unique applications, people recruited, selection success, future recruitment, or a current-day live tracker. The Royal Navy and Royal Marines are one published grouping.
Source-linked headline
Select years and the data tool will generate a comparison.
Original source vintages
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Why this is safer than a headline calculator based on applications
Every displayed value comes from the existing 10-year July series drawn from dated MOD Table 1 releases. We report which official population was selected and the two source vintages, rather than inventing personal chance-of-selection estimates. The latest observation is July 2026. Static audits and independent source links are available in the 10-year source archive.
Get all 120 rows with source metadata ↗See eight reporting pitfalls ↗