UK armed forces veterans
The 2021 Census was the first to ask people if they had previously served in the UK armed forces. The Census asked people aged 16 years and over whether they had previously served in the regular or reserve UK armed forces, or both. It advised people currently serving in the UK armed forces and those who had never served to tick "no".
People who have previously served in the regular or reserve UK armed forces are often known as the veteran population and form part of the armed forces community (along with those currently serving in the armed forces or Merchant Navy and their families). The question on UK armed forces veterans was added to better meet the needs of service providers and others who support veterans, in line with the Armed Forces Covenant.
Summary of results for the Dover District
- In 2021, 5,710 people had previously served in the UK armed forces in the Dover District, 5.9% of the population aged 16 years and over.
- Across the Kent Local Authority Districts and Medway, the local authorities with the highest proportion of veterans were Dover (5.9%), Folkestone and Hythe (5.7%) and Thanet (5.0%).
- Of the 5,710 people who had previously served in the UK armed forces in the Dover District, 4,638 (4.8%) had previously served in the regular armed forces only, while 830 (0.9%) had served only in the reserve armed forces. The remaining 242 (0.3%) had served in both the regular and the reserve armed forces.
- Of the UK armed forces veteran population in the Dover District, 98.3% (5,611) lived in households, and 1.7% (99) lived in communal establishments. These figures are in line with the averages for the whole of England.
- In total, 5,376 households in the Dover District had at least one person who had previously served in the UK armed forces in 2021 (10.6% of all households). Of these households, the vast majority (5,143 households or 95.7%) included only one veteran, 229 households (4.3%) had two veterans, and the remaining four households (0.1%) had three or more veterans.
Comparison tables for Kent and Medway
Table 1: Proportion who have served in any of the forces in 2021 for Kent Local Authority Districts and Medway.
|
| 5.9 |
| 5.7 |
| 5.0 |
| 4.6 |
| 4.0 |
| 3.9 |
| 3.9 |
| 3.8 |
| 3.8 |
| 3.5 |
| 3.5 |
| 2.8 |
| 2.6 |
| 4.2 |
| 3.8 |
Table 2: Proportion of population who have served in regular forces, reserve forces or in both regular and reserve in 2021 for Kent Local Authority Districts and Medway.
|
| 4.8 |
0.9 |
0.3 |
| 4.5 |
0.9 |
0.2 |
| 4.0 |
0.8 |
0.2 |
| 3.6 |
0.8 |
0.2 |
| 3.1 |
0.7 |
0.2 |
| 3.0 |
0.7 |
0.2 |
| 3.0 |
0.7 |
0.2 |
| 2.9 |
0.7 |
0.2 |
| 2.8 |
0.8 |
0.2 |
| 2.5 |
0.8 |
0.1 |
| 2.5 |
0.8 |
0.1 |
| 2.1 |
0.6 |
0.1 |
| 1.8 |
0.6 |
0.1 |
| 3.2 |
0.8 |
0.2 |
| 2.9 |
0.7 |
0.2 |
Table 3: Proportion of residents who have previously served in the UK armed forces who live in a household or live in a communal establishment in 2021 for Kent Local Authority Districts and Medway.
|
| 98.6 |
1.4 |
| 97.6 |
2.4 |
| 98.4 |
1.6 |
| 98.3 |
1.7 |
| 97.6 |
2.4 |
| 98.9 |
1.1 |
| 97.3 |
2.7 |
| 98.8 |
1.2 |
| 97.3 |
2.7 |
| 97.0 |
3.0 |
| 98.2 |
1.8 |
| 99.3 |
0.7 |
| 97.0 |
2.9 |
| 97.6 |
2.4 |
| 98.0 |
2.0 |
Table 4: Number of households with at least 1 person in the household previously serving in UK armed forces in 2021 for Kent Local Authority Districts and Medway.
|
| 4,460 |
201 |
11 |
| 4,746 |
166 |
7 |
| 2,153 |
67 |
2 |
| 5,143 |
229 |
4 |
| 4,661 |
202 |
6 |
| 2,198 |
61 |
0 |
| 5,122 |
185 |
5 |
| 7,837 |
292 |
1 |
| 3,094 |
77 |
3 |
| 4,353 |
136 |
2 |
| 5,279 |
181 |
7 |
| 3,796 |
94 |
3 |
| 2,950 |
73 |
1 |