The number of British Army personnel has fallen to the lowest level in 200 years.

According to a report from the British "Daily Telegraph" website cited by the Reference News on November 27th, despite the Labour Party's recruitment efforts, the number of personnel in the UK armed forces has only increased by a net 240 people in the past year. The figures released on November 27th show that there are a total of 137,100 full-time personnel in the British military, compared to 136,860 people in October last year. The army has 74,270 active duty personnel, but only 70,300 of them have completed professional training and are ready for immediate deployment, a decrease of over 1,000 people since October 2024. The last time the army was smaller than its current size was back in 1803, on the eve of the Napoleonic Wars, when the standing army was only 67,000 people.