New data released by the defence ministry shows that Germany has registered increased interest in its military after it commenced its recruitment drive with a 20 per cent rise in the number of applicants since it was launched last year.

By 2035, Germany is hoping to enlist close to 100,000 new active soldiers. Although these objectives were initially regarded as hard to reach without conscription, the rising number of applications and recruitment is an indication that the voluntary recruitment push is bearing fruit.

On February 16,100 Germans volunteered for the army, which is 20% higher than February 2025. Simultaneously, 5,300 new recruits were announced – 14% higher than the numbers of the last year, the defence ministry reported.

The German army was weakened on the whole, however. It has 186,200 men on the ground, 200 fewer than the number it had at the close of January. The defence ministry announced, “in the spring, there is an excessively high number of soldiers leaving the service at the end of their term.”

Berlin has undertaken to expand its army to about 260,000 active troops and 200,000 reservists, most of whom will be volunteers. As a way to achieve the desired levels of reserves, Berlin has resolved to implement a 6-month voluntary service beginning this year.

A defence ministry spokesperson added that they are sure “they will meet this objective and that their efforts will be successful.”

“Currently, everything seems to be pointing in that direction,” he said on Wednesday.

However, doubts remain. In a few weeks, the parliamentary commissioner to the German military, Henning Otte, admitted that he is a bit pessimistic about whether we will ever see these growth figures.

The German military has the goal of getting 20,000 volunteers this year and 23,000 next year. Failure to hit these numbers may be compulsory.