The amount spent on British Army adverts is set to nearly double as the Ministry of Defence looks to resolve the Armed Forces recruitment crisis, new figures show. More than £17.2 million is expected to be spent on Army recruitment ads for the 2024-25 financial year, significantly up on the £9.3 million the year before.
The Army is at its smallest since the Napoleonic Wars, with around 73,000 troops. Around £51.6 million is predicted to be forked out on recruitment ads across the Armed Forces this financial year – an increase of about £10 million. The numbers were revealed by Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard.
He said: “We inherited a retention and recruitment crisis from the last administration, and we are determined to address it.
“Recruitment advertising is one part of our efforts to attract recruits to the UK Armed Forces.”
He added the figures for this financial year are “partially forecasted spend and are subject to change”.
Adverts for the RAF are also seeing a boost, with an extra £2.3 million set to be spent (£15.7 million).
Meanwhile, £18.6 million is to be paid for Royal Navy and Royal Marines ads, largely in line with recent years.
