Bundeswehr Personnel 2026: Strength by Branch and Rank
186,705 soldiers, 81,048 civilians — Bundeswehr force structure by branch, status and rank, incl. women in uniform. BMVg data, Stand 31 July 2026. Tables, CSV.
TL;DR
As of 31 July 2026, the Bundeswehr has 186,705 soldiers and 81,048 civilian employees — 267,753 people in total. Military strength is up 2,511 since 31 December 2025 and roughly 3,700 (+2%) on July 2025 — the highest level since 2013 and inside the 186,000–190,000 corridor the Wehrdienst-Modernisierungsgesetz sets for 2026. Career soldiers are 33.0% of the force; 12,050 serve under the Neuer Wehrdienst (short-term SaZ plus FWDL). Women are 13.6% of uniformed personnel (25,475) and 39.6% of the civilian workforce (32,089).
Data of record: BMVg/Bundeswehr personnel statistics, Stand 31 July 2026 (released 17 August 2026). Year-end 2025 figures remain on the 2025 edition. Download: CSV · JSON.
How to read this page. Every figure below carries the same date of record — 31 July 2026 — taken from the Bundeswehr's published personnel statistics. Where the 2026 reporting categories differ from 2025 (the Neuer Wehrdienst split), the break is stated rather than smoothed. The page is updated after each monthly BMVg release; the year-end 2026 figures will appear here when published in early 2027.
Bundeswehr total personnel (31 July 2026)
| Category | Count |
|---|---|
| Military (uniformed) | 186,705 |
| Civilian | 81,048 |
| Total Bundeswehr workforce | 267,753 |
Source: Bundeswehr / Bundesministerium der Verteidigung, Personalzahlen der Bundeswehr, Stand: 31. Juli 2026.
Change since December 2025 and year on year
Military strength rose from 184,194 at 31 December 2025 to 186,705 at 31 July 2026 — a net gain of 2,511 in seven months. Against July 2025 the ministry reports an increase of more than two per cent, roughly 3,700 soldiers. With the July figure the headcount sits inside the statutory corridor of 186,000–190,000 for 2026; the ministry expects it to keep rising to year-end.
The civilian workforce moved the other way: 81,048 at 31 July 2026 against 81,958 at year-end 2025, a decline of 910. Total Bundeswehr headcount is 267,753, up 1,601 on December.
Three targets frame the numbers. The Wehrdienst-Modernisierungsgesetz, passed in December 2025, sets 186,000–190,000 active soldiers for 2026 and introduced the Neuer Wehrdienst from January 2026. The NATO capability targets agreed at The Hague in June 2025, carried into the Verteidigungsaufstellung 2029, imply up to 260,000 active career and temporary-career soldiers plus 200,000 reservists. The Bundeswehr military strategy of April 2026 sets 460,000 in total by 2035.
Force composition by branch and command
| Area | Military | Civilian | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ministry | |||
| Federal Ministry of Defence (BMVg) | 1,066 | 1,858 | 2,924 |
| Subordinate agencies of the Ministry | 3,898 | 1,597 | 5,495 |
| Armed services | |||
| Army (Heer) | 65,199 | 2,453 | 67,652 |
| Air Force (Luftwaffe) | 28,605 | 4,660 | 33,265 |
| Navy (Marine) | 15,844 | 1,809 | 17,653 |
| Cyber and Information Domain (CIR) | 13,782 | 1,847 | 15,629 |
| Joint and civilian organisational areas | |||
| Joint Support Service (Unterstützungsbereich) | 47,955 | 11,125 | 59,080 |
| Personnel (Bundeswehr universities, careers centres) | 7,305 | 10,924 | 18,229 |
| Infrastructure, Environment, Services (IUD) | 1,122 | 32,680 | 33,802 |
| Equipment, IT and In-Service Support (AIN / BAAINBw) | 1,929 | 11,515 | 13,444 |
| Military Chaplaincy | — | 488 | 488 |
| Legal Affairs (Rechtspflege) | — | 92 | 92 |
| Total | 186,705 | 81,048 | 267,753 |
Compared with December 2025 the Army (Heer) gained 2,035 soldiers, the Joint Support Service 522, the Air Force 113 and the Navy 94; the Cyber and Information Domain Service lost 122. The Army alone accounts for about 81 per cent of the net military growth since year-end.
The civilian decline is concentrated in the Infrastructure, Environment and Services area (IUD) — down by roughly 380 since December — and in equipment and in-service support (AIN/BAAINBw), down about 230. Both compete for the same technical and administrative labour as the wider public sector.
Soldier categories: career, temporary and the Neuer Wehrdienst
Germany keeps a hybrid force model: a core of career soldiers, a majority on fixed-term contracts, and an entry tier of short-term service. From January 2026 that entry tier is reported in the categories of the Neuer Wehrdienst — short-term temporary-career soldiers (SaZ kurz, 12–23 months) alongside the remaining voluntary military service (FWDL, 6–11 months).
| Status | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Career soldiers (Berufssoldaten) | 61,552 | 33.0% |
| Temporary-career soldiers, long (SaZ ≥ 24 months) | 113,103 | 60.6% |
| Temporary-career soldiers, short (SaZ 12–23 months, Neuer Wehrdienst) | 5,407 | 2.9% |
| Voluntary military service (FWDL, 6–11 months) | 6,643 | 3.6% |
| Total | 186,705 | 100% |
Reporting break. The 2025 edition showed 112,578 SaZ, 59,447 career soldiers and 12,169 FWDL. Since January 2026 the statistics split SaZ into long and short service and no longer list the homeland-defence voluntary service separately. The combined short-term tier — SaZ kurz plus FWDL — stands at 12,050, which the ministry rounds to 12,100 and reports as six per cent above July 2025. Career soldiers rose by 2,105 on December 2025.
Rank structure
| Rank group | Count |
|---|---|
| Generals and admirals | 220 |
| Field-grade officers (Stabsoffiziere) | 15,680 |
| Company-grade officers (Offiziere) | 23,900 |
| Senior NCOs (Unteroffiziere mit Portepee) | 62,610 |
| Junior NCOs (Unteroffiziere ohne Portepee) | 28,960 |
| Enlisted (Mannschaften) | 55,340 |
| Total (rounded) | 186,710 |
Officers of all grades are about 21 per cent of the force, senior NCOs 34 per cent and enlisted ranks 30 per cent — an NCO-heavy profile that reflects the long-service contract model rather than a conscript intake.
Women in the Bundeswehr: military roles (31 July 2026)
25,475 women serve in uniform, 13.6% of the force. The largest concentration is in the Joint Support Service, which includes the medical service; by rank, women are most numerous among senior NCOs.
| Area | Count |
|---|---|
| Federal Ministry of Defence (BMVg) | 73 |
| Subordinate agencies of the Ministry | 477 |
| Army (Heer) | 5,067 |
| Air Force (Luftwaffe) | 2,987 |
| Navy (Marine) | 1,788 |
| Cyber and Information Domain (CIR) | 1,432 |
| Joint Support Service (Unterstützungsbereich) | 11,818 |
| Personnel | 1,559 |
| Infrastructure, Environment, Services (IUD) | 142 |
| Equipment, IT and In-Service Support (AIN) | 132 |
| Total | 25,475 |
| Rank group | Count |
|---|---|
| Officers | 7,345 |
| Senior NCOs (mit Portepee) | 9,170 |
| Junior NCOs (ohne Portepee) | 3,402 |
| Enlisted (Mannschaften) | 5,558 |
| Total | 25,475 |
| Status | Count |
|---|---|
| Career soldiers | 6,318 |
| Temporary-career, long (SaZ ≥ 24 months) | 17,272 |
| Temporary-career, short (SaZ 12–23 months) | 790 |
| Voluntary military service (FWDL) | 1,095 |
| Total | 25,475 |
Compared with December 2025 the number of female soldiers is up 227; the share of the force is essentially unchanged.
Women in civilian defence roles (31 July 2026)
32,089 women work in the civilian Bundeswehr — 39.6% of 81,048 civilian staff — across administration, engineering, IT, procurement and the universities.
| Employment category | Count |
|---|---|
| Civil servants (Beamtinnen) | |
| Higher service (höherer Dienst) | 2,324 |
| Senior service (gehobener Dienst) | 4,660 |
| Intermediate service (mittlerer Dienst) | 4,117 |
| Basic service (einfacher Dienst) | 15 |
| Civil servants, total | 11,116 |
| Other | |
| Contract employees (Arbeitnehmerinnen) | 19,246 |
| Trainees, preparatory service, interns | 1,727 |
| Total | 32,089 |
Recruitment and the 2026 corridor
The ministry's July release reports about 47,300 applications for military service from January to July 2026, up 26 per cent on the same period of 2025, and about 15,400 enlistments, up 12 per cent. July alone added roughly 6,800 applications and 4,500 enlistments over June.
The Wehrerfassung questionnaire — the registration survey mailed since January 2026 to the 18-year-old cohort under the Wehrdienst-Modernisierungsgesetz, mandatory for men and voluntary for women — had gone to about 378,000 people by July; 2,630 had completed assessment and 865 had been offered a place (824 for 2026, 41 for 2027). Those are small numbers against a 186,000-strong force, but they are the first flow through the new entry path and the ministry reports a month-on-month rise of about a third.
Why the 2026 structure matters
The 31 July 2026 figures are the first mid-year data under the new service law. Five things stand out:
- Corridor reached, not finished. 186,705 sits at the bottom of the 186,000–190,000 range; the upper bound needs a further 3,295 by December. The long-term NATO-derived requirement of up to 260,000 is a separate, later target.
- Growth is Army growth. The Heer added 2,035 soldiers since December 2025 — the bulk of the net increase — as the land forces stand up the Lithuania brigade and the homeland-defence structures. CIR shrank slightly; Air Force and Navy were flat.
- Civilian headcount is falling. A loss of 910 civilian posts in seven months runs against the growth narrative and concentrates in infrastructure and procurement support — the functions that a larger force leans on most.
- The reserve is next. The Reservestärkungsgesetz approved by cabinet on 1 July 2026 ends 'double voluntariness' and sets a reserve of at least 200,000 by 2033, against roughly 60,000 assigned reservists today; it awaits parliament and is slated to apply from early 2027.
- Deployments are small. About 750 soldiers were on operations abroad as of 10 August 2026 — KFOR (~290), UNIFIL (~200), counter-Daesh/capacity building in Jordan and Iraq (~150), EUFOR Althea (~40) and smaller missions. The force is sized for alliance defence at home and on NATO's eastern flank, not for expeditionary commitments.
Tracking future changes
The Bundeswehr publishes personnel figures monthly; this page is revised after each release, and the year-end 2026 snapshot will follow in early 2027. The machine-readable dataset behind the tables is available as CSV and JSON. The year-end 2025 snapshot is preserved unchanged on the 2025 edition.
Primary sources: the Bundeswehr's Personalzahlen page and the BMVg press release of 17 August 2026.
FAQ: Bundeswehr strength, growth, women and the Neuer Wehrdienst
How many soldiers does Germany have in 2026?
The Bundeswehr had 186,705 active soldiers at 31 July 2026, plus 81,048 civilian employees — 267,753 people in total. Source: Bundeswehr personnel statistics, Stand 31 July 2026.
Is the Bundeswehr growing?
Yes. Military strength is up 2,511 since 31 December 2025 (184,194) and about 3,700 on July 2025; it is the highest level since 2013. Civilian headcount fell by 910 over the same seven months.
What is the Bundeswehr's target strength for 2026?
The Wehrdienst-Modernisierungsgesetz sets a corridor of 186,000–190,000 active soldiers for 2026. The July 2026 figure sits inside it. NATO capability targets imply up to 260,000 career and temporary-career soldiers in the longer term.
How many Bundeswehr soldiers are women?
25,475 — 13.6% of the force. Women hold 32,089 civilian posts, about 39.6% of the civilian workforce.
What share of the Bundeswehr are career soldiers?
33.0% (61,552 Berufssoldaten). 60.6% are long-term temporary-career soldiers (SaZ ≥ 24 months), 2.9% short-term SaZ and 3.6% voluntary military service.
What is the Neuer Wehrdienst?
The voluntary military-service model introduced by the Wehrdienst-Modernisierungsgesetz from January 2026: a registration questionnaire for young men (voluntary for women), assessment, and entry either as short-term temporary-career soldier (12–23 months) or voluntary service (6–11 months). 12,050 soldiers serve in those two categories as of 31 July 2026.
How large is the Army compared with the Air Force and Navy?
Army 65,199, Air Force 28,605, Navy 15,844, Cyber and Information Domain 13,782 uniformed personnel; the Joint Support Service, which includes the medical service, has 47,955.
How many German soldiers are deployed abroad?
About 750 as of 10 August 2026, the largest contingents in KFOR (Kosovo) and UNIFIL (Lebanon).
How often is this page updated?
After each monthly BMVg/Bundeswehr personnel release. The date of record is stated in the TL;DR and on every table.
Sources: Bundeswehr, Personalzahlen der Bundeswehr (Stand: 31. Juli 2026); BMVg press release 'Personalzahlen der Bundeswehr auf neuem Höchststand' (17 August 2026); BMVg on the Reservestärkungsgesetz (1 July 2026); Reservistenverband; Augen geradeaus (17 August 2026).
Further Großwald reading
- Bundeswehr Personnel 2025: year-end force structure (31 December 2025)
- NATO Exercises 2026: the complete guide to allied readiness
- Germany's Defence Procurement: Budget, 25-Million Approvals and BAAINBw Reform
About Großwald
Großwald is an independent European defence intelligence publication covering strategy, procurement and military transformation for defence professionals, analysts and institutions — verified data, stated sources, no corporate or government sponsorship.
