| This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008) |
| The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page. (May 2008) |
This list of countries by size of armed forces displays national troop levels by active troop strength, number of Naval combatants, fighter aircraft and nuclear weapons. The list’s ranking however is based in the number of troops, not in the numbers of tanks, aircraft, ships or power of the armed forces. This list is indicative only, as strict comparisons cannot accurately be made. For example, "troop strength" in some forces might include administrative or paramilitary functions that in another country might be civilian roles and therefore excluded from the below figures.
| Rank (by number of active troops) | - | Country | Active troops (thousands) |
Reserve troops (thousands) |
Defense budget (US$ BN) | Tanks | AC | Cr | D | F | Co | NS | S | Air | Nu |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -- | World | 17,442 | 44,925 | 1,200.00 | 86,681 | 24 | 28 | 204 | 319 | 335 | 134 | 259 | 17,489 | 26,291 | |
| 1. | People's Republic of China ** | 2,255[1] | 800 | 59.00 | 7,580[2] | 0 | 0 | 28 | 43 | 70 | 10 | 46 | 2,643[3] | 400 [4] | |
| 2. | United States of America ** | 1,650[5] | 1,463 | 583.283 | 7,821[2] | 12[2] | 25 | 56 | 34 | 48 | 72[6] | 6[7] | 2,604[2] | 9,200 [8] | |
| 3. | India ** | 1,485[3] | 1,455 | 26.50[9] | 5,220[2] | 1[10] | 0 | 8 | 13 | 32 | 0 | 16 | 1,242[3] | 200-300[11] | |
| 4. | Russia ** | 1,245[2] | 1,690 | 40.00[12] | 23,381[2] | 1 | 5 | 20 | 18 | 66 | 35 | 49 | 2,118[2] | 16,800[13] | |
| 5. | Democratic People's Republic of Korea ** | 1,106 | 4,700 | 5.00 | 3,500[3] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 621 | 0-10 [14] | ||
| 6. | Republic of Korea | 687 | 4,500 [15] | 29.53 | 2,300[3] | 0 | 0 | 12 | 9 | 28 | 0 | 20 | 468 [16] | 0 | |
| 7. | Pakistan ** | 610 | 518 | 5.20 | 2,451[3] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7[3] | 5 | 0 | 5[17][18] | 327 [19] | 30-50 [20] | |
| 8. | Iran | 615[21] | 350 | 6.30 | 1,800[22] | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 402[23] | 0 | |
| 9. | Myanmar | 492 | - | 0.03 | 800 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 128 | 0 | |
| 10. | Vietnam | 484 | 3,000 | 3.2 | 1,829 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 211 | 0 | |
| 11. | Egypt | 450 | 254 | 3.30 | 3,680 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 567 | 0 | |
| 12. | Turkey | 402[24] | 378 | 15.16 | 4,205 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 424 | NATO shared | |
| 13. | Ukraine | 361 | 1,000 | 2.065 [25] | 3784 [26] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 817[27] | 0 | |
| 14. | Indonesia | 316 | 400 | 1.30 | 365 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 23 | 0 | 2 | 61 | 0 | |
| 15. | Thailand | 314 | 200 | 1.77 | 790 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 184 | 0 | |
| 16. | Syria | 296 | 354 | 0.85 | 4,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 144 | 0 | ||
| 17. | Republic of China (Taiwan) | 290 | 1,657 | 10.5 | 926 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 21 | 0 | 4 | 390 | 0 | ||
| 18. | Brazil | 287 | 1,115 | 24.4 | 331 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 180 | 0 | ||
| 19. | Germany | 285 | 338 | 45.00 | 400 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 243 | NATO shared | |
| 20. | France ** | 225 | 100 | 74.39 | 1,021 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 340 | 350 [28] | |
| 21. | Colombia | 960* | 62 | 3.30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 30 | 0 | ||
| 22. | Italy | 240 | 68 | 43.00 | 1,600*** | 2 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 9 | 386 | NATO shared | |
| 23. | Japan | 239 | 47 | 48.86 | 980[29] | 0 | 0 | 44[30] | 0[30] | 0 | 0 | 16[30] | 360[31] | ||
| 24. | Poland | 155 | 260 | 10.79 | 947 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 102 | 0 | |
| 26. | Eritrea | 202 | 250 | 0.22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 0 | ||
| 27. | Morocco | 196 | 150 | 3.72 | 744 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[32] | 3[33] | 0 | 156 | 0 | ||
| 28. | United Kingdom ** | 195 | 233 | 68.911 | 390 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 17 | 13[34] | 0 | 504 [35] | 200 [28] | ||
| 29. | Mexico | 192 | 300 | 6.07 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 107 | 0 | |
| 30. | Israel # | 187 | 425 | 9.44 | 3,650[36] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 416[37] | 70-400[38] | |
| 31. | Ethiopia | 182 | 0.29 | 400 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 0 | ||
| 32. | Spain | 177 | 329 | 12.30 | 552 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 181 | 0 | |
| 33. | Greece | 177 | 291 | 7.64 | 1,552 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 305 | NATO shared | |
| 25. | Algeria | 175 | 150 | 4.99 | 1200 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 32 | 0 | 3 | 320 | 0 | |
| 34. | Sri Lanka | 157 | 0.60 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 0 | |||
| 35. | Switzerland | 140 | 80 | 2.54 | 556 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 138 | 0 | |
| 36. | Bangladesh | 137 | 0.83 | 180[2] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 125 | 0 | |||
| 38. | Azerbaijan | 126 | 575 | 2[3] | 600+ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 198 | 0 | |||||
| 39. | Saudi Arabia | 124 | 75 | 27.20 | 1055[39] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 291 | 0 | ||
| 40. | Sudan | 117 | 0.58 | 200 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 0 | ||
| 41. | Philippines | 113 | 403 | 1.34 | 126 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 0 | ||
| 42. | Malaysia | 110 | 1.69 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 93 | 0 | |||
| 43. | Peru | 110 | 188 | 0.82 | 300 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |||
| 44. | Jordan | 100 | 35 | 1.39 | 1,179 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 101 | 0 | |
| 45. | Angola | 100 | 2.00 | 300 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 65 | 0 | ||
| 46. | Venezuela | 100 | 280 | 4.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 76 | 0 | |||
| 47. | Romania | 93 | 2.90 | 340 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 48 | 0 | ||
| 48. | Nepal | 90 | 0.10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 49. | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 83 | 0.103 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 50. | Chile | 80 | 50 | 5.19 | 320 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 58 | 0 | |
| 51. | Belarus | 79 | 289 | 0.42 | 1,608 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 212 | 0 | |
| 52. | Nigeria | 78 | 0.73 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 53. | Libya | 76 | 1.30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| 53. | Serbia | 75 | 200 | 1.4 | 243 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 0 | ||||
| 54. | Cambodia | 124 | 0.11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| 55. | Lebanon | 72 | 0.54 | 310 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 56. | Argentina | 71 | 4.30 | 200 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 66 | 0 | ||
| 57. | Afghanistan | 70 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 58. | Kazakhstan | 65 | 1,266 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 59. | Yemen | 40 | 1,250 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 463 | 0 | |||
| 60. | Canada | 62 | 35 | 18.00 | 86 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 119 | NATO shared | ||
| 61. | Rwanda | 61 | |||||||||||||
| 62. | Armenia[40] | 60 | 32 | 0.135 | 110 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 0 | |
| 63. | South Africa | 60 | 3.70 | 168 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 43 | 0 | |||
| 64. | Singapore | 60 | 312 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 119 | 0 | ||
| 65. | Uganda | 60 | 0.10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 66. | Ecuador | 59 | 100 | 0.91 | 140 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 67. | Czech Republic | 57 | 2.17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 0 | |||
| 68. | Australia | 54 | 20 | 23.18 | 210 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 160 | 0 | |
| 69. | Netherlands | 53 | 32 | 10.8 | 88 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 90 | NATO shared | |
| 70. | Uzbekistan | 53 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 71.= | Bulgaria | 51 | 303 | 1.0 | 560 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 88 | 0 | |
| 71.= | Croatia | 51 | 1.14 | 200 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 0 | ||
| 73. | United Arab Emirates | 50 | 436 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 80 | 0 | |||||
| 74. | Cuba | 46 | 12 | 0.20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 110 | 0 | |
| 75. | Portugal | 45 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 40 | 0 | |||
| 76. | Oman | 42 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 77. | Belgium | 41 | 4.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 68 | NATO shared | |||
| 78. | Burundi | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 79. | Finland | 37 | 485 | 9.80 | 124 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 63 | 0 | |
| 80. | Tunisia | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56 | 0 | ||||
| 81. | Austria | 34 | 233 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | |||
| 82. | Sweden | 34 | 262 | 6.70 | 160 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 138 | 0 | |
| 83. | Hungary | 33 | 1.35 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 | ||
| 84. | Zimbabwe | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| 85. | Bolivia | 32 | 40 | 0.147 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | |||
| 86. | Guatemala | 31 | 35 | 0.12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | ||
| 87. | Chad | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | ||||
| 88. | Laos | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| 89. | Norway | 28 | 219 | 6.2[41] | 136 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 57 | 0 | ||
| 90. | Tanzania | 27 | 96 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 91. | Slovakia | 26 | 487 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 92. | Turkmenistan | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 93. | Dominican Republic | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 94. | Kenya | 24 | 76 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | ||||
| 95. | Uruguay | 24 | 0.25 | 85 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 0 | ||
| 96. | Cameroon | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 97. | Denmark | 23 | 65 | 2.50 | 57 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 48 | 0 | ||
| 98. | Zambia | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 99. | Albania | 20 | 0 | 0.056 | 435 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 100. | Paraguay | 19 | 15 | 0.125 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Contents |