German soldiers prepare a Leopard 2 A7V tank to take part in a NATO exercise in Italy in 2023. (Martin Glinker/NATO)
STUTTGART, Germany — An aging German military is facing a manpower crisis, with overall troop levels down despite a recruiting effort aimed at building a force to deal with growing security threats, according to a new government report.
The report released Tuesday by the German parliament’s commissioner on the armed forces said the country’s military, known as the Bundeswehr, also faces shortages in ammunition and supplies.
Meanwhile, housing barracks are run down and in short supply, Eva Högl, the commissioner, said in her report.
“The Bundeswehr is shrinking and getting older,” Högl told reporters in Berlin on Tuesday. “This development must be urgently stopped and reversed.”
In 2024, Bundeswehr troop levels shrunk by 340 people, for a total of 181,174 personnel. The decline came despite a recruitment push that seeks to increase the military to 203,000 troops by 2031.
The average age of a soldier is now 34, up from 32.4 years of age in 2019, according to the report.
German soldiers drive a Leopard 2A6 tank during an exercise in Bemowo Piskie, Poland, in 2023. (John Schoebel/ U.S. Army National Guard)
In comparison, the average age of U.S. active duty service members was 28.6 as of 2023, according to a DOD demographics report.
The difficulties come as Germany tries to bolster its military to deal with concerns about growing instability in Europe. NATO officials have said Russia is on a wartime economy footing and could pose a threat to the alliance within five years.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s ambivalence toward NATO also has intensified calls in Berlin for Germany to become more self-sufficient. While Germany has increased its defense spending, hitting NATO’s 2% of gross domestic product benchmark in 2024, top German officials want higher levels of investment.
The anticipated next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, is pushing for a budget deal that would lift constitutional limitations on deficit spending to increase defense expenditures by hundreds of billions of dollars. Merz ahas said Europe must work toward military “independence” from the U.S., citing the White House’s unpredictability.
There also are discussions about reviving some form of mandatory military service, which was abolished in 2011 in Germany.
Högl’s report said it is necessary to reactivate a registration system for conscription. However, she said an across-the-board draft would overwhelm the military given a shortage of barracks and equipment.
Instead, the report suggested a blended model as an alternative that calls for a year of social service, which can be carried out in the military or other institutions.
“A country that can respond to a possible attack with an excellently trained and equipped army is a deterrent to potential aggressors,” Högl said in the report.
