England employed 30,601 full-time-equivalent firefighters at 31 March 2025, down 0.5% on the year and 14% over the decade. This guide brings together the latest available England workforce release, Scotland’s 2025/26 figures, Wales’s March 2025 figures, the LGA’s 2025 workforce survey and the July 2026 NJC pay rates. Each measure is labelled by date and staffing basis.

The figures distinguish full-time equivalents from headcounts and firefighters from the wider fire-service workforce. National releases and survey estimates use different coverage, so they should be compared with their definitions in view.

Key firefighter facts and figures

  • 30,601 full-time-equivalent firefighters were employed in England at 31 March 2025 — down 0.5% on the year, from 30,769.
  • 14% is the fall in England’s firefighter numbers over the decade, from 35,699 in 2015 (down 4.1% over five years).
  • 22,740 FTE firefighters in England were wholetime and 7,860 were on-call (retained) at 31 March 2025.
  • 4,109 staff joined England’s fire and rescue services in 2024/25 (9.1% of starting headcount), while 3,814 left (8.5%). These counts include control and support staff.
  • 9.7% of England’s firefighters were women (3,310) at 31 March 2025 — up from 4.7% a decade earlier.
  • 5.6% of England’s firefighters who stated their ethnicity were from an ethnic minority background (1,793) at 31 March 2025.
  • 3,431 wholetime operational firefighters and 2,747 on-call firefighters were reported by SFRS for 2025/26; Wales reported 1,520 wholetime FTE firefighters at March 2025.
  • £40,358 is the competent firefighter basic annual NJC rate from 1 July 2026, following a 3.8% pay award.

Checked on 15 October 2026. England’s latest published workforce release covers March 2025, Scotland’s organisational release covers 2025/26, and Wales’s workforce release covers March 2025. The figures do not all refer to the same date. Pay rates below took effect on 1 July 2026.

How many firefighters are there in the UK?

Fire and rescue services in England employed 30,601 full-time-equivalent firefighters at 31 March 2025, according to MHCLG’s fire and rescue workforce and pensions statistics — a fall of 0.5% on the 30,769 recorded a year earlier. The longer view is the one that matters for anyone tracking the health of the service: numbers are down 4.1% over five years and 14% over the decade, from 35,699 in 2015.

There is no single, clean UK-wide firefighter total, and it is worth being honest about why. The four nations publish workforce data on different bases, to different reporting dates, and count different categories of staff — so a headline that simply summed them would be misleading. The most reliable anchor is the England FTE figure above, read alongside the separate Scottish and Welsh releases (covered below) and the LGA’s UK-wide survey (covered further down). Northern Ireland’s single service publishes separately again.

Full-time equivalents measure staffing in relation to full-time working hours; headcounts count people or recorded posts. They are different measures, particularly for on-call work and secondary contracts. Rounded FTE components may not add exactly to the published total.

What is the difference between wholetime and on-call firefighters?

At 31 March 2025, England’s published firefighter total comprised 22,740 wholetime and 7,860 on-call FTEs. Wholetime staff work contracted shifts; on-call staff provide agreed availability and respond when called. The rounded components sum to one fewer than the rounded total of 30,601.

Recruitment conditions differ by duty system and location. The LGA’s 2025 survey found recruitment and retention difficulties were most commonly reported for retained personnel. This is a survey finding, not a claim that every on-call vacancy is harder to fill.

Firefighter type (England) FTE at 31 March 2025 How it works
Wholetime 22,740 Full-time salaried staff crewing stations on shift patterns
On-call (retained) 7,860 Respond from home or work on a retainer plus call-out fees
Total 30,601 Down 0.5% on the year and 14% over the decade

The LGA survey below provides evidence of on-call recruitment and retention difficulties. Station coverage and operational availability also depend on local geography, crewing arrangements and contracted availability.

How many fire-service staff join and leave each year?

In England, 4,109 staff joined fire and rescue services in 2024/25 and 3,814 left. These are headcounts across all staff roles, not firefighter-only FTE changes. The reported rates were 9.1% and 8.5% of staff headcount at the start of the year. Of the joiners, 875 were new apprentices across the service.

Subtracting leavers from joiners gives 295 across all staff roles. It does not explain the change in firefighter FTEs: the measures cover different groups, and working hours, role changes and recording arrangements also matter.

The recruitment figures can also be broken down by role and demographic group. They should be read alongside departures and the existing workforce, rather than treated as the sole explanation for changes in representation.

How many firefighters are women?

Women accounted for 9.7% of England’s firefighter headcount (3,310) at March 2025, compared with 4.7% (1,783) in 2015. Women were 15% of firefighter recruits in 2024/25 (395). Recruitment contributed to the rising share, alongside changes in departures and the number of male firefighters.

The contrast with fire control is stark and worth flagging, because the two roles are often conflated. 76% of fire control staff in England are women, against 9.7% of firefighters — control rooms, which handle 999 calls and mobilise appliances, are a majority-female workforce while the operational firefighting role remains heavily male. Reporting the two together would obscure both figures, so they are best kept separate.

These are fire-service-specific percentages, quoted here only to describe the firefighter workforce. Wider questions about women in leadership, the gender pay gap or occupational segregation across the economy are a different subject — our sister site covers those in its equality and diversity training resources.

How ethnically diverse is the firefighter workforce?

Among England’s firefighters who stated their ethnicity, 5.6% (1,793) were from an ethnic minority background at March 2025, compared with 3.9% in 2015. The percentage excludes unstated ethnicity and is based on headcount, not the FTE total used for staffing.

The firefighter share rose from 3.9% in 2015 to 5.6% in 2025. As with the gender data, these are fire-specific descriptive percentages: this page reports the composition of the firefighter workforce and does not attempt any cross-sector comparison, ethnicity-pay-gap analysis or wider workforce-diversity commentary, which belong to equality and diversity training rather than here.

What does the LGA UK-wide survey add?

The LGA’s 2025 survey received responses from 47 of the 48 services it approached. Its UK estimates were 29,770 wholetime personnel, comprising 28,464 firefighting and 1,306 control personnel, plus 16,499 retained personnel. These are estimates from that survey’s coverage, not an England-only FTE count.

In the survey, 77% of services reported recruitment difficulties for retained personnel and 70% reported retention difficulties. These percentages describe responding services, not the proportion of individual firefighters or vacancies affected.

The survey also recorded secondary contracts. Its personnel totals should not be treated as a deduplicated count of unique UK firefighters or directly added to the national workforce releases.

What about Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

Scotland’s 2025/26 organisational statistics report 3,431 wholetime operational firefighters and 2,747 on-call firefighters. These are headcounts for those categories, rather than a whole-organisation total or the firefighter-only FTE measure used for England’s headline.

At 31 March 2025, Welsh authorities reported 2,271 FTE staff and a separate 1,306 retained duty system staff. Of the 2,271 FTE staff, 1,520 were wholetime firefighters. The first figure includes control and support roles as well as firefighters.

Nation Workforce figure Data period Basis
England 30,601 FTE firefighters 31 March 2025 FTE, firefighters only
Scotland 3,431 wholetime + 2,747 on-call firefighters 2025/26 Headcounts for two firefighter categories
Wales 2,271 FTE + 1,306 RDS staff 31 March 2025 FTE staff plus separately counted retained staff

Because the four nations use different definitions, staff categories and reporting bases, these totals should be read side by side rather than added into one UK number. Northern Ireland’s single service publishes its own workforce statistics separately again.

How much does a UK firefighter get paid in 2026?

The NJC competent firefighter basic annual rate is £40,358 from 1 July 2026, following a 3.8% increase. The published firefighter development rate is £31,539. These are basic rates: allowances, overtime and local arrangements can affect actual earnings.

On-call remuneration uses retaining fees and payments for work performed, so the wholetime annual salary should not be presented as an on-call salary. The 2026 settlement also lists separate scales for control staff and higher ranks.

Frequently asked questions

How many firefighters are there in the UK?

England reported 30,601 FTE firefighters at March 2025. Scotland reported 3,431 wholetime operational and 2,747 on-call firefighters for 2025/26. Wales reported 1,520 wholetime FTE firefighters and 1,306 retained staff at March 2025. These differing measures and dates should not be summed as a single UK headcount.

How many firefighters are women, and what percentage are female?

At March 2025, women were 9.7% of England’s firefighter headcount (3,310), up from 4.7% in 2015. Women were 15% of firefighter recruits in 2024/25. The separate fire-control workforce was 76% female.

What is the difference between wholetime and on-call (retained) firefighters?

Wholetime firefighters work contracted shifts; on-call firefighters provide agreed availability and respond when called. England reported 22,740 wholetime and 7,860 on-call FTEs at March 2025. The LGA’s 2025 survey found recruitment and retention difficulties were most common for retained personnel.

How much does a UK firefighter get paid in 2026?

From 1 July 2026, the NJC competent firefighter basic annual rate is £40,358 and the development rate is £31,539. Actual earnings depend on role, allowances and working arrangements; on-call pay uses retaining fees and payments for duties.

Where do UK firefighter statistics come from?

The principal sources are MHCLG’s England workforce statistics, the LGA’s 2025 survey, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service organisational statistics, Welsh Government operational statistics and the NJC pay rates published by the Fire Brigades Union. Dates and staffing definitions differ.

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Sources & references

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Mark McShane
Mark McShane
Health & Safety Training Specialist, Online CPD Academy

Mark writes about workplace health & safety, fire safety and accredited online training for Fire Warden Training, part of Online CPD Academy.