The number of German army soldiers has sunk to 181,500, despite major efforts by the government to increase the ranks, the Defence Ministry told dpa on Friday. This means that as of the end of last year, there were around 1,500 fewer temporary and career Bundeswehr soldiers as well as volunteers doing military service than a year earlier, as ministry said. At the end of 2022, the Bundeswehr still had 183,050 soldiers. The Bundeswehr’s primary goal is and remains to sustainably strengthen its personnel readiness, a spokeswoman said. “We need qualified and operationally ready men and women who a…