Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Armed Forces veterans there are in the UK in total, including those not in receipt of a pension or payment under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme; and of those, how many are below the age of 66.

The Ministry of Defence estimates that in 2016 there were 2.5 million UK Armed Forces veterans residing in households across Great Britain (GB, excluding Northern Ireland), of whom 936,000 (some 37%) were aged between 16 and 64. A breakdown of those aged 16-65 is not available. Further detail on the estimated size and socio-demographic characteristics of the UK Armed Forces veteran population residing in GB can be found in the 'Annual Population Survey: UK Armed Forces Veterans Residing in Great Britain', the latest edition of which (2016) is published at the following address:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/annual-population-survey-uk-armed-forces-veterans-residing-in-great-britain.