It’s very difficult to get accurate data on UK amateur radio, as the data hasn’t been released by either Ofcom or the RSGB This page has been created to try to summarise as much data about amateur radio numbers in one central location.
How many radio amateurs are there in the UK?
- The best data we have shows that around 86,000 individuals in the UK have a licence as of December 2025, but in reality, the number of actual radio amateurs will be much lower
- We know that 8,946 people got a licence in the 5 years between 2019-2023 (an average of 1,790 getting a licence per year).
Why don’t we know? Ofcom releases a list of callsigns allocated (see below), but when a radio amateur passes away, Ofcom aren’t always made aware. Also there is natural churn in any hobby, the 86,000 is the number of individuals who’ve been issued with one or more licences since 2006 but many, possibly more than half may have given up the hobby to do other things – there is no easy way to tell. The data on this page may help though.
How many amateur radio callsigns have been issued in the UK?
- Ofcom data shows that 104,441 callsigns are allocated as of March 2025
- There are 1,603 club callsigns allocated as of March 2025
| Callsign | Level | Allocated | Total |
| M3 | Foundation | 9770 | 34635 |
| M6 | 13671 | ||
| M7 | 11194 | ||
| 2×0 | Intermediate | 11733 | 13480 |
| 2×1 | 1747 | ||
| G0 | Full | 8281 | 54654 |
| G1 | 4967 | ||
| G2 | 148 | ||
| G3 | 4202 | ||
| G4 | 8816 | ||
| G5 | 239 | ||
| G6 | 4964 | ||
| G7 | 5839 | ||
| G8 | 4843 | ||
| M0 | 9661 | ||
| M1 | 2325 | ||
| M5 | 369 |
(Source: Ofcom Callsign Database March 2025)
How many people become radio amateurs each year?
Here is some data on recent exam passes:
| Foundation passes | Intermediate passes | Full passes | |
| 2018 | 1366 | 696 | 292 |
| 2019 | 1384 | 684 | 348 |
| 2020 | 2774 | 759 | 258 |
| 2021 | 2045 | 638 | 372 |
| 2022 | 1461 | 450 | 239 |
| 2023 | 1282 | 361 | 191 |
(Source: RSGB ESC Exam Reports)
How many members does the RSGB have?
- The RSGB has 20,400 members and 479 affiliated societies as of 31 December 2024
- The RSGB made £1,131,808 from membership subscriptions in 2024
(Source: RSGB Annual Report and Financial Statement 2024)
Thanks to Trevor M5AKA for help with sourcing data for this page
Got a question?
Is there a stat you’d like to know? Add a comment below and we’ll try to find an answer.
