Civometry

Police officers (full-time equivalent, excluding long-term absence): record highs and lows

The extremes of police officers (full-time equivalent, excluding long-term absence) as published by Home Office, across the 31 periods held here (Year ending March 1996 to Year ending March 2026). Each record is a published figure, not a computed one, and the scope is this series — not “ever”.

Highest published

144,557Year ending March 2024

Lowest published

119,068Year ending March 2018

The full series

Police officers (full-time equivalent, excluding long-term absence): Year ending March 1996 to Year ending March 2026ConservativeLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourCoalitionCoalitionConservativeConservativeConservativeLabour050k100k200020102020Year ending March 1996: 124,844 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 1997: 125,051 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 1998: 124,756 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 1999: 123,841 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2000: 121,956 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2001: 123,476 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2002: 127,267 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2003: 131,426 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2004: 137,105 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2005: 139,491 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2006: 139,631 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2007: 139,063 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2008: 138,585 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2009: 140,630 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2010: 140,661 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2011: 136,051 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2012: 130,826 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2013: 126,278 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2014: 124,685 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2015: 123,832 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2016: 120,664 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2017: 119,700 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2018: 119,068 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2019: 120,070 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2020: 126,031 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2021: 132,431 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2022: 137,260 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2023: 144,296 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2024: 144,557 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2025: 143,079 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2026: 142,273 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026
Published valueProvisional or revisedLatestShaded bands: governments (see labels)Hover or use arrow keys to read a value

What a record here is, and is not

A record is the extreme of the periods this site holds for the current series, at each period’s newest published release. Earlier series measured under different methods are not compared against it. Money is in cash terms: a record set years ago stands against the money of its own year.