Denmark recently announced plans to undertake compulsory military conscription for women, aiming to boost the size of its armed forces after a NATO report criticized the country’s investment in land and sea defenses. In 2013, Norway became the first NATO nation to make military conscription mandatory for women, followed by non-NATO member Sweden in 2017. (Here are all NATO members ranked by military power.)
Although these Scandinavian nations are some of only a handful of countries in the world – including Israel, Morocco, and North Korea – that regularly conscript women, women in many countries worldwide volunteer to serve in their country’s armed forces.
To find the countries with the most women serving in the military, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed NATO data as well as data from several media sources. The list includes only countries for which we found reliable Information and is far from comprehensive. Of the 50 nations we were able to find such statistics, we listed the 26 countries where women make up more than 10% of military personnel. Information on which roles are open to women also came from NATO and different media sources. Active-duty personnel figures came from GlobalFirepower.com, an annually-updated military statistics website.
Although women have held military positions in many countries for over a century, their roles were mostly limited to nursing and administration. In World War I there was a major increase in women military personnel across European nations as well as in the United States and Canada. These women served not only as nurses but as ambulance drivers, photo analysts, translators, weather forecasters, and in some cases, combat soldiers. (These are the greatest women in military history.)
Still, women have generally constituted a small fraction of total active personnel, with most nations’ armed forces composed of under 5% women at the turn of the 20th century. In the last two decades, however, the average number of women in full-time military positions has doubled among NATO nations, as laws and court rulings have opened the doors for women to seek a wider variety of roles.
Many nations have also increasingly opened combat positions to women in the last 20 years. Of the 26 nations where women make up over 10% of military personnel, the vast majority now have no restrictions on women serving in roles that would put them on the front lines.
Click here to see countries with the most women serving in the military.
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26. United Kingdom
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 11%
> Year of estimate, source: 2019, NATO
> Combat roles: No restrictions – all active duty positions are open to women
> All active-duty personnel: 194,000
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25. Netherlands
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 11%
> Year of estimate, source: 2019, NATO
> Combat roles: No restrictions – all active duty positions are open to women
> All active-duty personnel: 35,000
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24. Slovakia
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 12%
> Year of estimate, source: 2019, NATO
> Combat roles: No restrictions – all active duty positions are open to women
> All active-duty personnel: 13,000
Source: Raul_Mellado / iStock via Getty Images
23. Portugal
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 12%
> Year of estimate, source: 2019, NATO
> Combat roles: No restrictions – all active duty positions are open to women
> All active-duty personnel: 27,000
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22. Lithuania
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 12%
> Year of estimate, source: 2019, NATO
> Combat roles: No restrictions – all active duty positions are open to women
> All active-duty personnel: 16,000
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21. Germany
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 12%
> Year of estimate, source: 2019, NATO
> Combat roles: No restrictions – all active duty positions are open to women
> All active-duty personnel: 184,000
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20. Spain
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 13%
> Year of estimate, source: 2019, NATO
> Combat roles: No restrictions – all active duty positions are open to women
> All active-duty personnel: 120,000
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19. Czechia
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 13%
> Year of estimate, source: 2019, NATO
> Combat roles: No restrictions – all active duty positions are open to women
> All active-duty personnel: 26,000
Source: Goran Jakus Photography / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
18. Croatia
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 13%
> Year of estimate, source: 2019, NATO
> Combat roles: No restrictions – all active duty positions are open to women
> All active-duty personnel: 15,000
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17. Taiwan
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 13.6%
> Year of estimate, source: 2017, Taipei Times
> Combat roles: Limited
> All active-duty personnel: 170,000
Source: Photo Beto / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
16. Norway
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 14%
> Year of estimate, source: 2019, NATO
> Combat roles: No restrictions – all active duty positions are open to women
> All active-duty personnel: 23,000
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15. Albania
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 14%
> Year of estimate, source: 2019, NATO
> Combat roles: Restrictions on women serving in the Navy, Special Forces and in Pilot positions.
> All active-duty personnel: 8,000
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14. Slovenia
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 15%
> Year of estimate, source: 2019, NATO
> Combat roles: No restrictions – and no restrictions that apply to operations
> All active-duty personnel: 7,000
Source: Uldis Zile / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
13. Latvia
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 16%
> Year of estimate, source: 2019, NATO
> Combat roles: No restrictions – all active duty positions are open to women
> All active-duty personnel: 6,500
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12. France
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 16%
> Year of estimate, source: 2019, NATO
> Combat roles: No restrictions – all active duty positions are open to women
> All active-duty personnel: 205,000
Source: CatEyePerspective / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
11. Canada
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 16%
> Year of estimate, source: 2019, NATO
> Combat roles: No restrictions – all active duty positions are open to women
> All active-duty personnel: 70,000
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10. Bulgaria
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 16%
> Year of estimate, source: 2019, NATO
> Combat roles: No restrictions – all active duty positions are open to women
> All active-duty personnel: 25,000
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9. United States
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 17%
> Year of estimate, source: 2019, NATO
> Combat roles: No restrictions – all active duty positions are open to women
> All active-duty personnel: 1,390,000
Source: Jimbo_Cymru / iStock via Getty Images
8. New Zealand
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 18%
> Year of estimate, source: 2019, NATO
> Combat roles: No restrictions – all active duty positions are open to women
> All active-duty personnel: 9,600
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7. Australia
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 19%
> Year of estimate, source: 2019, NATO
> Combat roles: No restrictions – all active duty positions are open to women
> All active-duty personnel: 60,500
Source: SanerG / iStock via Getty Images
6. Greece
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 19%
> Year of estimate, source: 2019, NATO
> Combat roles: women are not permitted to enter the Naval Special Force
> All active-duty personnel: 130,000
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5. Moldova
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 20%
> Year of estimate, source: 2019, NATO
> Combat roles: No restrictions – all active duty positions are open to women
> All active-duty personnel: 6,000
Source: PEDRE / E+ via Getty Images
4. Hungary
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 20%
> Year of estimate, source: 2019, NATO
> Combat roles: No restrictions – and no restrictions that apply to operations
> All active-duty personnel: 23,000
Source: JacquesKloppers / iStock via Getty Images
3. South Africa
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 24%
> Year of estimate, source: 2018, Washington Post
> Combat roles: Limited
> All active-duty personnel: 40,200
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2. Israel
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 38%
> Year of estimate, source: 2020, The Marker
> Combat roles: 86% of roles, including front-line ground combat, open and more to open in the next 2 yrs
> All active-duty personnel: 173,000
Source: alexkuehni / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
1. North Korea
> Estimated pct. of women in the military: 40%
> Year of estimate, source: Unclear, Army Technology
> Combat roles: Unclear
> All active-duty personnel: 12,000,000
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