In 2010, military conscription in Sweden was suspended. Due to the latest increasing of Russia’s activities in the Baltic Region and unsuccessful efforts to fill the ranks, Sweden will reintroduce conscription for men and women in January 2018. In total, Swedish Armed Forces’ personnel amounted to 50,000 employees in 2016; most of them (9,100) were career officers and 5,300 were junior non-commissioned officers, soldiers, as well as seamen. The majority are still male. While 8,500 men were serving in the army as officers, the number of women with this rank amounted to 600. In 2015, 16 to 24 years was the most common age group represented in the Swedish Armed Forces, with more than 3,000 individuals employed.
Due to the 2014 Crimean crisis, the Swedish government decided to increase the military defense budget to a total of more than 50 billion Swedish kroner by 2020. According to Försvarsmakten, the budget for international deployments remained stable in recent years, amounting to approximately 1.5 billion Swedish kronor in 2016. That year, most troops of the armed forces in international regions were deployed in Mali – either for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission (MINUSMA) or the European Union Training Mission (EUTM). Other deployments included Iraq (OIR), Afghanistan (RSM) or London (ATALANTA).
