The Bundeswehr has shrunk: only 181,500 soldiers. There are around 1,500 fewer temporary and professional soldiers as well as those doing voluntary military service than a year ago.
There has recently been an increased debate about possible compulsory military service or the hiring of soldiers without German citizenship. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) is already having models of compulsory service examined. A task force is examining human resources as a whole. The number of women has also grown slightly, without this being able to reverse the trend.