Police Numbers Reducing Gradually

4th February 2026

Photograph of Police Numbers Reducing Gradually

Scotland's Chief Statistician has published statistics on Police Officer Quarterly Strength, which gives the number of full-time equivalent police officers employed by Police Scotland.

The key findings of the statistics are:

there were 16,416 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in Scotland on 31 December 2025.

police officer numbers decreased by 25 FTE officers (-0.1%) in the last quarter from 30 September 2025.

police officer numbers decreased by 91 FTE officers (-0.6%) in the last year from 31 December 2024
this is an increase of 182 FTE police officers (+1.1%) from the 16,234 FTE police officers recorded at 31 March 2007.

Chart 1 shows the total number of police officers (full-time equivalent) in Scotland between Q1 2007 and Q4 2025. The number of FTE police officers have been on a downward trend between Q2 2021 and Q2 2024, then increased between Q2 2024 and Q1 2025. In Q2 2025 it then dropped back to similar levels as Q3 2024 and has remained around this level since.

The statistics in this release are based upon quarterly returns made by Police Scotland to the Scottish Government, and are a by-product of live administrative processes, generated directly from the HR systems. The data return provides a snapshot of police strength at the end of the quarter. The published police officer figures are sourced from Police Scotland's personnel records and as such the quality and reliability is good.

The next edition in the series, Police Officer Quarterly Strength Scotland, 31 March 2026, will be published on Tuesday 5 May 2026.

 

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