Suffrago UK Data Hub
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Independent service run by Suffrago – not an official government website. Every figure comes from an official UK publisher under its open licence and is checked against that source each time the data is refreshed.

Police officers, England and Wales

Full-time equivalent police officers in the 43 territorial police forces of England and Wales at 31 March each year since 2003, from the Home Office's police workforce statistics.

Police officers (FTE)

145,885.69

31 Mar 2026

Verified against source, 4 November 2026, 02:01 UTC
Police officers (FTE)
050k100k150k31 Mar 0331 Mar 0731 Mar 1131 Mar 1531 Mar 1931 Mar 2331 Mar 26146k

Source: Home Office. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Data table

24 periods, newest first

PeriodPolice officers (FTE)
31 Mar 2026145,885.69
31 Mar 2025146,451.59
31 Mar 2024147,744.94
31 Mar 2023147,433.67
31 Mar 2022140,228.33
31 Mar 2021135,301.41
31 Mar 2020129,110.02
31 Mar 2019123,188.86
31 Mar 2018122,404.80
31 Mar 2017123,141.99
31 Mar 2016124,066.25
31 Mar 2015127,192.46
31 Mar 2014127,909.30
31 Mar 2013129,583.79
31 Mar 2012134,100.02
31 Mar 2011139,109.61
31 Mar 2010143,734.44
31 Mar 2009143,768.87
31 Mar 2008141,156.91
31 Mar 2007141,892.96
31 Mar 2006141,522.95
31 Mar 2005141,059.41
31 Mar 2004138,468.37
31 Mar 2003132,509.36

Download CSVDownload JSON with full provenance

Source and licence

Publisher
Home Office
Check it yourself
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales
Licence
Open Government Licence v3.0 – Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Retrieved
4 November 2026, 01:57 UTC
Raw files fetched

Verification

Verified against source, 4 November 2026, 02:01 UTC Run at 4 November 2026, 02:01 UTC; 24 of 24 figures matched the live source.

ResultCheckDetail
PassProvenance recordedHome Office; Open Government Licence v3.0; retrieved 2026-11-04T01:57:35Z; 2 raw file(s)
PassRaw files match recorded SHA-2562 of 2 files intact
PassRe-parsing raw files reproduces figures24 of 24 figures and the headline reproduced
PassFigures are finite numbers24 figures, 0 invalid
PassLive source matches every figure24 of 24 figures match exactly after downloading 2 source file(s) again (2 byte-identical); the headline matches
PassGOV.UK table is currentlatest period 2026-03-31 ended 218 days before retrieval (limit 550), from Police workforce, England and Wales: 31 March 2026: data tables
PassThe release's bulletin agrees3 of 3 figures the bulletin https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-workforce-england-and-wales-31-march-2026/police-workforce-england-and-wales-31-march-2026 states match, each rounded half up as it rounds them
PassThe forces add up to England and Wales3 of 3 cases of Table H5's dates, its 43 territorial forces sum to England and Wales (all unrounded) within 1e-06 (3 exactly)
PassTable H3 equals Table H52 of 2 cases of Table H5's 31 March dates give the same England and Wales total as Table H3 within 1e-06 (2 exactly)
PassThe open data table adds up to Table H320 of 20 cases of the open data table's years (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a58d48c7eb057103bd945ba/open-data-table-police-workforce-220726.ods) sum to Table H3's officers within 1e-06 (19 exactly), 1 of them by the publisher's known difference: 2008-03-31 (+700)
PassSource page answershttps://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales – HTTP 200

Notes

  • Full-time equivalent officers in the 43 territorial forces, as Table H3 of each year's release gives them; the British Transport Police, the National Crime Agency and officers seconded to central services are not counted in them. The Home Office revises earlier years when a force corrects its return, so every year comes from the latest release.
  • The Home Office's open data table of the workforce, summed by year, gives 141,856.91 officers at 31 March 2008, 700 more than Table H3's 141,156.91; every other year agrees exactly.