HC Deb 24 July 2000 vol 354 c378W
Mr. Cox

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many United Kingdom service personnel are serving overseas, broken down by country. [130768]

Mr. Spellar

As at 1 April 2000, the latest date figures for which are available, 39,560 armed forces personnel were serving overseas (this does not include Naval personnel afloat). The three Services collate data on location of personnel slightly differently and this has determined the presentation of the breakdown by country, as follows:

Country Number
Mainland Europe 29,213
Austria 19
Belgium 550
France 33
Germany 20,429
Greece 18
Italy 605
Netherlands 254
Norway/Denmark 251
Poland 70
Portugal 60
Turkey 199
Former Yugoslavia 6,307
Miscellaneous 418
Mediterranean, near and Middle East 5,180
Cyprus 3,631
Gibraltar 457
Mid East/Gulf 270
Saudi Arabia 618
Miscellaneous 204
Far East 288
Brunei 201
Nepal 33
Diego Garcia 38
Miscellaneous 16
North America 1,417
Canada 905
USA 512
Other 1,498
Australia 70
South Atlantic 1,428
Elsewhere 1,964
Total 39,560

Note:

1. The 'Elsewhere' figure is made up predominantly of Army personnel including Service Attachés and loans and exchange personnel in the following countries: Andaman Islands, Belize, Bermuda, Botswana, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Indonesia, South Africa, Egypt, Fiji, Ghana, India, Jamaica, Malawi, Malaysia, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Tongan Islands, Tanzania, Singapore, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Albania, Brazil, China, Congo, Columbia, French Overseas Territories, Guatemala, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Lebanon, Lithuania, Thailand, Angola, Mozambique, USSR.

2. In addition to Service Attachés and loan and exchange personnel, `Miscellaneous' covers small groups deployed in the relevant region.