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Army: Foreigners

Answer

[holding answer 10 September 2008]: As at 1 July 2008, there were 7,350 Foreign and Commonwealth trained and untrained regular army officers and soldiers excluding Gurkhas. There were 3,830 trained and untrained Gurkhas as at 1 July 2008, all of whom are Nepalese.A breakdown of the nationality of these personnel is given in the following table:

Regular army officers and soldiers by nationality as at 1 July 2008
		Officer and soldier	Officer	Soldier
Category	Nationality	Trained	Untrained	Trained	Untrained	Trained	Untrained
	Total	¹93,800	¹10,190	¹13,820	¹820	¹79,980	¹9,370
	UK total	¹86,930	¹7,270	¹13,560	¹690	¹73,370	¹6,580
	Percentage of column total	¹92.7	¹71.3	¹98.1	¹83.9	¹91.7	¹70.2
	British (or first UK nationality is British)	¹86,545	¹7,245	¹13,540	¹690	¹73,005	¹6,555
	British Hong Kong	¹10	¹5	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹10	¹5
	British overseas territory citizen	¹370	¹20	¹20	¹,²—	¹350	¹20
	Republic of Ireland total	¹210	¹20	¹40	¹,³—	¹170	¹20
	Percentage of column total	¹0.2	¹0.2	¹0.3	¹0.4	¹0.2	¹0.2
Republic of Ireland	Irish4	¹205	¹25	¹40	¹,³—	¹170	¹20
	Commonwealth (excl UK) total	¹6,120	¹860	¹180	¹20	¹5,940	¹840
	Percentage of column total	¹6.5	¹8.4	¹1.3	¹1.9	¹7.4	¹9.0
Commonwealth (excl UK)	Antiguan	¹,³—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—
	Australian	¹65	¹5	¹30	¹,³—	¹30	¹,³—
	Bahamian	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,³—
	Bangladeshi	¹5	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹5	¹,³—
	Barbadian	¹10	¹,³—	¹,³—	¹,³—	¹10	¹,²—
	Belizean	¹,³—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,³—
	Botswanan	¹10	¹10	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹10	¹10
	British Commonwealth	¹10	¹,²—	¹5	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—
	Cameroonian	¹35	¹15	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹35	¹15
	Canadian	¹50	¹,³—	¹15	¹,³—	¹35	¹,³—
	Citizen of Fiji	¹2,005	¹170	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹2,000	¹170
	Citizen of Seychelles	¹10	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹10	¹,²—
	Citizen of Sri Lanka	¹10	¹,³—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹10	¹,³—
	Citizen of St Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—
	Dominican	¹20	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹20	¹,³—
	Gambian	¹125	¹40	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹125	¹40
	Ghanaian	¹685	¹185	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹680	¹185
	Grenadian	¹50	¹10	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹50	¹10
	Guyanese	¹20	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹20	¹,³—
	Indian	¹60	¹25	¹10	¹,³—	¹50	¹25
	Jamaican	¹660	¹20	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹660	¹20
	Kenyan	¹110	¹40	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹110	¹40
	Lesotho	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,³—
	Malawian	¹140	¹45	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹140	¹45
	Malaysian	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—
	Maltese	¹5	¹,³—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,³—
	Mauritian	¹35	¹10	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹35	¹10
	Namibian	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—
	New Zealander	¹60	¹,³—	¹20	¹,²—	¹40	¹,³—
	Nigerian	¹90	¹40	¹,³—	¹,³—	¹90	¹40
	Pakistani	¹5	¹,³—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹5	¹,³—
	Papua New Guinean	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—
	Sierra Leonean	¹40	¹,³—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹35	¹,³—
	Singaporean	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—
	South African	¹730	¹120	¹50	¹10	¹675	¹115
	St Lucian	¹190	¹15	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹190	¹15
	Swazi	¹10	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹10	¹,³—
	Tanzanian	¹,³—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,³—
	Tongan	¹5	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹5	¹,³—
	Trinidad and Tobago citizen	¹65	¹5	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹65	¹5
	Ugandan	¹55	¹20	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹55	¹20
	Vincentian	¹235	¹5	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹235	¹5
	Zambian	¹20	¹,³—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹20
	Zimbabwean	¹460	¹40	¹20	¹,³—	¹440	¹40
	UK Dependency total	¹20	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹20	¹,²—
	Percentage of column total	¹0.0	¹0.0	¹0.0	¹0.0	¹0.0	¹0.0
UK Dependency	Ascension Islander	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—
	Gibraltarian	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,²—
	Monserratian	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—
	St. Helenian	¹15	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹15	¹,²—
	Other total	¹100	¹10	¹30	¹,³—	¹70	¹10
	Percentage of column total	¹0.1	¹0.1	¹0.2	¹0.4	¹0.1	¹0.1
Other	Afghan	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—
	Brazilian	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,³—
	Chinese	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,²—
	Colombian	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—
	Dutch	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,²—
	Filipino	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,³—
	Foreign	¹5	¹,²—	¹5	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,²—
	French	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,²—
	German	¹5	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—
	Italian	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—
	Mauritanian	¹,³—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,³—
	Nepalese	¹80	¹,³—	¹20	¹,³—	¹65	¹,³—
	Somali	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,³—
	Spanish	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—
	Swiss	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,²—
	Ukrainian	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,²—	¹,²—
	United States citizen	¹,³—	¹,³—	¹,³—	¹,²—	¹,³—	¹,³—
	No value total	¹420	¹2,030	¹10	¹110	¹410	¹1,920
	Percentage of column total	¹0.4	¹19.9	¹0.1	¹13.5	¹0.5	¹20.4
	No value	¹420	¹2,025	¹10	¹110	¹410	¹1,915
¹ Provisional.
² Zero.
³ Fewer than 5.
4 Citizen of the Irish Republic.
Notes:
1. Prior to 1980 Zimbabwe was known as Rhodesia. Rhodesia was not a member of the Commonwealth. Zimbabwe was suspended from the Councils of the Commonwealth in February 2002. Zimbabwe withdrew from the Commonwealth on 7 December 2003 after the suspension was renewed at the Commonwealth Leaders' meeting. An Act of Parliament is required to affect the status of its citizens if a country withdraws from the Commonwealth.
2. Figures are for trained and untrained regular strengths only and therefore exclude FTRS, Gurkhas and mobilised reservists.
3. Figures have been rounded to 5; numbers ending in ““5”” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. Totals have been rounded to 10. Totals and subtotals have been rounded separately and so may not appear to be the sum of their parts.
4. Due to the ongoing validation of the new Joint Personnel Administration System all Army data from 1 April 2007 are provisional and subject to review.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

223301; 479 c2073-8W

Session

2007-08

Subjects

Armed forces Army Foreign nationals

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk