The Countries With the Largest Active-Duty Militaries

Special Report

May 5, 2023 12:51 pm

Source: Courtesy of Egyptian Military Academy via Facebook

10. Egypt
> Active-duty personnel: 440,000
> Reserves personnel: 480,000
> PowerIndex (military strength): 0.2224 (#14 most powerful out of 145)
> No. of military aircraft: 1,069 (2.01% of the world military aircraft)
> Population, 2023: 109.5 million (#15 largest out of 237 countries)
> Military expenditure, 2022: $4.6 billion (0.21% of world military expenditures)

Source: Photo by D. Myles Cullen / U.S. Department of Defense

9. Vietnam
> Active-duty personnel: 470,000
> Reserves personnel: 2.5 million
> PowerIndex (military strength): 0.2855 (#19 most powerful out of 145)
> No. of military aircraft: 223 (0.42% of the world military aircraft)
> Population, 2023: 104.8 million (#16 largest out of 237 countries)
> Military expenditure, 2022: N/A

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Source: Chung Sung-Jun / Getty Images News via Getty Images

8. South Korea
> Active-duty personnel: 555,000
> Reserves personnel: 500,000
> PowerIndex (military strength): 0.1505 (#6 most powerful out of 145)
> No. of military aircraft: 1,602 (3.01% of the world military aircraft)
> Population, 2023: 52.0 million (#28 largest out of 237 countries)
> Military expenditure, 2022: $46.4 billion (2.07% of world military expenditures)

Iranian Velayat-90 Naval Exercise by IRIN by Mohammad Sadegh Heydari

Iranian Velayat-90 Naval Exercise by IRIN (CC BY 4.0) by Mohammad Sadegh Heydari

7. Iran
> Active-duty personnel: 575,000
> Reserves personnel: 350,000
> PowerIndex (military strength): 0.2712 (#17 most powerful out of 145)
> No. of military aircraft: 541 (1.02% of the world military aircraft)
> Population, 2023: 87.6 million (#17 largest out of 237 countries)
> Military expenditure, 2022: $6.8 billion (0.31% of world military expenditures)

Source: John Moore / Getty Images

6. Pakistan
> Active-duty personnel: 654,000
> Reserves personnel: 550,000
> PowerIndex (military strength): 0.1694 (#7 most powerful out of 145)
> No. of military aircraft: 1,413 (2.65% of the world military aircraft)
> Population, 2023: 247.7 million (#5 largest out of 237 countries)
> Military expenditure, 2022: $10.3 billion (0.46% of world military expenditures)

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