defense
Every tenth new Bundeswehr soldier is a minor
A total of 15,935 men and 2,867 women took up service in the Bundeswehr last year, making a total of 18,802 recruits. photo
© Stefan Sauer/dpa
The number of recruits in the Bundeswehr remained almost unchanged in 2023. However, the proportion of 17-year-olds has increased – despite the federal government’s efforts to the contrary.
This corresponds to a share of 10.6 percent after 9.4 percent in the previous year. This emerges from an overview that the Federal Ministry of Defense provided upon request.
Protection regulations for minors
The SPD, Greens and FDP had agreed in the federal coalition agreement that training and service with weapons should be reserved for adult soldiers. The Defense Ministry now said that 17-year-old applicants would only be hired “if they pass a comprehensive physical and psychological aptitude test.”
The military training also takes into account extensive protection regulations for minors: “Specifically, this means: no participation in guard services or foreign missions, use of the weapon only for training purposes.”
The proportion of women decreased slightly
A total of 15,935 men and 2,867 women took up service in the Bundeswehr last year, making a total of 18,802 recruits. That is slightly more than the year before: in 2022, the year of the Russian attack on Ukraine, the number of new recruits rose by around twelve percent to 18,775. However, the pre-Corona level was not reached. In 2019, 20,170 soldiers started their service.
The proportion of women has now fallen slightly to 15 percent, following an increase to 17 percent in the previous year. In 2019, the proportion of women was also 15 percent.