Civometry

Police officers (full-time equivalent): record highs and lows

The extremes of police officers (full-time equivalent) as published by Home Office, across the 24 periods held here (Year ending March 2003 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

147,745Year ending March 2024

Lowest published

122,405Year ending March 2018

The full series

Police officers (full-time equivalent): Year ending March 2003 to Year ending March 2026LabourLabourLabourLabourCoalitionCoalitionConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeLabour050k100k20052010201520202025Year ending March 2003: 132,509 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2004: 138,468 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2005: 141,059 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2006: 141,523 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2007: 141,893 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2008: 141,157 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2009: 143,769 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2010: 143,734 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2011: 139,110 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2012: 134,100 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2013: 129,584 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2014: 127,909 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2015: 127,192 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2016: 124,066 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2017: 123,142 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2018: 122,405 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2019: 123,189 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2020: 129,110 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2021: 135,301 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2022: 140,228 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2023: 147,434 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2024: 147,745 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2025: 146,452 officers (FTE) · published 22 July 2026Year ending March 2026: 145,886 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.