Ofcom release UK ham radio callsign figures

[G1PIE]

In response to a Freedom of Information Request the communications regulator Ofcom has released totals for Live Amateur Radio Callsigns by Prefix

Daryl Spence M0TTY had asked Ofcom "could you please give me the current numbers of licensed Amateur Radio operators for each callsign type please."
Ofcom's response was that on July 5, 2018 the UK had a total of 87,983 live amateur radio callsigns. They provided the following prefix breakdown:

Call Sign Count of Live Prefix Call Signs
20 8612
21 1596
G0 8615
G1 4910
G2 164
G3 4631
G4 9157
G5 58
G6 4901
G7 5829
G8 4837
M0 8363
M1 2275
M3 9961
M5 297
M6 13777
Grand Total 87983

Unlike other countries, such as USA, in the UK you can tell the Class of licence from the callsign prefix:
• Foundation are M3 and M6
• Intermediate are 20 and 21 (in use a Regional Secondary Locator is inserted after the 2)
• Full are all the other prefixes

[2E0FVL]

Thanks Mark.
From one in 8612!!

[G1PIE]

FOI UPDATE,
In response to a Freedom of Information Request the communications regulator Ofcom has confirmed the total number of UK licensed amateurs.
Stewart Baker G3RXQ had asked Ofcom "From data held on Amateur Radio Licenses, please furnish the following information: -
"The total number of individuals holding one or more current UK Amateur Radio Licenses as of 1/4/2018."
Ofcom's response...
Dear Stewart Baker,
Freedom of Information: Right to know request.
Thank you for your request for information where you asked about Amateur Radio License statistics. This was received by Ofcom on 5 April 2018 and it has been considered under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Ofcom can confirm that the total number of individuals holding one or more current UK Amateur Radio Licenses is 9971.

[G1PIE]

Following a Freedom of Information request Ofcom has now issued what is believed to be the correct figure for the number of individual radio amateurs in the UK

Stewart Baker G3RXQ has made several FoI's to Ofcom to try and find out how many individuals hold one or more amateur licences but the first couple of responses from Ofcom gave a clearly incorrect figure which was just below 10,000.

On August 3 he made another another attempt and on September 4 Ofcom supplied the correct information.

Ofcom said:
"As of 1 August 2018 I can confirm that the total number of individuals holding one or more current UK Amateur Radio Licences is 75,660."

"It has come to our attention that the figure in our letter to you dated 17 April 2018 concerning Amateur Radio Licence statistics as of 1 April 2018 is incorrect. As at that date, the correct figure for the total number of individuals holding one or more current UK Amateur Radio Licences is 74,646."

This figure enables an estimate to be made for the number of radio amateurs who die each year.

It believed the RSGB has about 19,000 UK members who are licenced amateurs, this is about 25% of total UK amateurs. From an analysis of the Silent Key column in 2015 RadCom it would appear that about 248 licenced UK RSGB members are dying each year. This suggests that maybe in total some 992 UK amateurs die each year.

Just over 1400 people pass the RSGB Foundation exam each year. Foundation was initially designed to provide an introduction to the hobby and it was accepted there could be a high drop-out rate, up to 50%, as people tried out the hobby but found in the first year or so it wasn't for them. Anecdotal evidence since 2002 appears to confirm a 50% drop-out rate is broadly correct. This suggests of the 1400 newcomers each year only about 700 may continue with the hobby, this is less than the apparent annual death rate.

Additionally an unknown number may decide after 5, 10 or 15 years to try a different hobby or they may no longer be active for various reasons. There is no way of telling how many as the licences are lifetime, the active UK amateur population could be declining at an alarming rate!