HC Deb 13 May 2002 vol 385 cc430-1W
Mr. Gerald Howarth

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average length of service has been for(a) British nationals, (b) Gurkhas and (c) foreign nationals, broken down by country serving in the British Army. [55453]

Mr. Ingram

The tables show officer and soldier mean length of service. Nationality at birth before 1997 is not available on strength data so only the last six years have been shown. Totals shown are for untrained and trained personnel, ie officer designates are included in the officer table.

Calculations have been made using the mean length of service totals as at April 2001 of each year for those personnel on current strength at that date. Figures on mean length of service have only been calculated for populations of 10 or more.

Average length of service in years—as at April
Officers 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
(a) British 11.71 11.60 11.75 11.57 11.52 11.36
(b) Gurkhas n/a 22.99 22.56 22.38 22.18 22.40
(c) Foreign1
Nationality (at birth)
Australia 7.69 8.24 8.73 8.12 7.17 7.38
Canada 10.00 9.26 9.35 10.29 10.12 10.95
India 9.41 9.67 10.36 10.50 10.35 10.57
Malta GC 18.22 17.44 15.93 15.04 16.70
Nepal 12.90
New Zealand 6.88 7.21 7.36 7.50 7.23 7.30
Republic of Ireland 10.36 10.29 10.98 11.74 11.44 10.33
Rhodesia 6.38 6.38 7.37 8.07 8.31 8.82
South Africa 8.80 8.82 9.24 6.54 6.81 5.50
Zimbabwe 3.00 1.95 2.83 3.67
1Those nationalities with a current strength more than 9 as at April 2001
Average length of service in years—as at April
Soldiers 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
(a) British 8.21 8.19 8.14 8.16 8.23 8.26
(b) Gurkhas n/a 9.09 8.97 9.01 9.16 9.10
(c) Foreign1
Nationality (at birth)
America 8.25 7.43 7.08 8.68 7.61 8.17
Australia 6.14 6.79 6.61 6.38 6.48 7.20
Belize 3.00 3.20
Canada 8.20 7.84 7.09 7.02 7.62 7.20
Fiji 1.64 0.60 1.13 1.37
France 9.60
Gambia 1.85
Germany 8.85 7.34 6.88 5.99 4.85 5.47
Ghana 3.45 1.32
Grenada (Windward Islands) 1.00
India 14.61 13.17 11.59 12.20 10.67 8.43
Jamaica 15.01 15.31 11.89 8.09 4.57 1.94
Kenya 11.50 8.50 2.67 2.31
New Zealand 7.09 6.89 5.98 6.68 6.95 8.41
New Zealand Islands 1.94
Nigeria 1.44
Pakistan 9.92 8.83 9.63 10.63 9.90 6.71
Republic of Ireland 8.24 7.66 7.84 7.79 8.30 9.20
Rhodesia 6.60 6.85 5.90 5.80 6.31 7.89
South Africa 4.88 4.32 3.81 2.79 2.48 2.17
St. Helena 0.42 0.66 1.07 2.09
Average length of service in years—as at April
Soldiers 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
St. Lucia Island 0.89
St. Vincent Island 0.49 1.46
Trinidad and Tobago 4.41 3.33
Zimbabwe 5.50 3.25 2.85 2.20 1.35
1Those nationalities with a current strength more than 9 as at April 2001