Sweden’s recent addition to NATO has brought into question many concerns about military strength within the European continent. However, military strength is not necessarily a requirement to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. There are a few countries that fill out the ranks that add very little in terms of military forces, comparatively speaking, to the overall alliance. There are a handful of militaries across Europe that can muster over half a million troops each, if need be, but a large portion of NATO forces come from the United States.
For one, Iceland was a founding member of NATO but it does not have a standing military, navy or air force. Instead, this small frozen nation relies on the collective defense agreement within the NATO Alliance should there be any need. However, Iceland does provide aid in other forms like hosting military units from other nations in its strategic position in the North Atlantic Ocean. (These are the NATO countries not paying their fair share.)
Practically all nations within NATO have a standing army, and these can vary wildly based on a few factors. The United Kingdom, Poland and France were very much participants in World War II and each sees fit to have a standing force ready at a moment’s notice. Other countries like Turkey are closer to conflict zones and need a force ready to defend their borders.
Each of these nations can be measured by the number of active troops, and their military strength directly corresponds with this and a number of other factors including naval strength and air power. (These are the greatest armies ever assembled on Earth.)
To identify the NATO countries with the most military personnel, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed 2024 Military Strength Ranking from Global Firepower, an annually updated defense-related statistics website with information on 145 countries. Countries were ranked on the total number of military personnel. We included supplemental information regarding active personnel, reserves, total population, fit-for-service, paramilitary forces, and overall military strength score.
Here is a look at the NATO members with the most military manpower:
32. Iceland
Source: patpongs / iStock via Getty Images
- Total military personnel: 0
- Active personnel: 0
- Reserves: 0
- Paramilitary forces: 0
- Total population: 360,872
- Fit-for-service: 49,800
- Military strength score: 3.5038 – #136 out of 145
31. Luxembourg
Source: SvetlanaSF / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- Total military personnel: 1,000
- Active personnel: 1,000
- Reserves: 0
- Paramilitary forces: 0
- Total population: 660,924
- Fit-for-service: 91,208
- Military strength score: 2.1458 – #109 out of 145
30. Montenegro
Source: CatEyePerspective / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- Total military personnel: 7,850
- Active personnel: 2,350
- Reserves: 0
- Paramilitary forces: 5,500
- Total population: 602,445
- Fit-for-service: 85,547
- Military strength score: 2.9109 – #129 out of 145
29. Albania
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- Total military personnel: 9,100
- Active personnel: 6,600
- Reserves: 2,000
- Paramilitary forces: 500
- Total population: 3,101,621
- Fit-for-service: 1,290,274
- Military strength score: 1.8188 – #90 out of 145
28. Slovakia
Source: friedebach / Flickr
- Total military personnel: 19,500
- Active personnel: 19,500
- Reserves: 0
- Paramilitary forces: 0
- Total population: 5,425,319
- Fit-for-service: 2,294,910
- Military strength score: 1.1891 – #69 out of 145
27. Belgium
Source: 2007 Getty Images / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images
- Total military personnel: 31,400
- Active personnel: 25,000
- Reserves: 6,400
- Paramilitary forces: 0
- Total population: 11,913,633
- Fit-for-service: 3,860,017
- Military strength score: 1.2064 – #70 out of 145
26. Czechia
Source: Chalabala / iStock via Getty Images
- Total military personnel: 32,200
- Active personnel: 28,000
- Reserves: 4,200
- Paramilitary forces: 0
- Total population: 10,706,242
- Fit-for-service: 4,079,078
- Military strength score: 0.7706 – #46 out of 145
25. Croatia
Source: youngshanahan / Flickr
- Total military personnel: 36,425
- Active personnel: 14,325
- Reserves: 20,100
- Paramilitary forces: 2,000
- Total population: 4,169,239
- Fit-for-service: 1,571,803
- Military strength score: 1.1333 – #66 out of 145
24. Slovenia
Source: 39955793@N07 / Flickr
- Total military personnel: 38,300
- Active personnel: 7,300
- Reserves: 26,000
- Paramilitary forces: 5,000
- Total population: 2,099,790
- Fit-for-service: 827,317
- Military strength score: 1.8286 – #91 out of 145
23. Bulgaria
Source: sdasmarchives / Flickr
- Total military personnel: 40,000
- Active personnel: 37,000
- Reserves: 3,000
- Paramilitary forces: 0
- Total population: 6,827,736
- Fit-for-service: 2,628,678
- Military strength score: 1.0132 – #62 out of 145
22. Netherlands
Source: ajw1970 / Flickr
- Total military personnel: 53,145
- Active personnel: 41,380
- Reserves: 6,765
- Paramilitary forces: 5,000
- Total population: 17,463,930
- Fit-for-service: 6,374,334
- Military strength score: 0.5644 – #40 out of 145
21. Norway
Source: ajw1970 / Flickr
- Total military personnel: 63,250
- Active personnel: 23,250
- Reserves: 0
- Paramilitary forces: 40,000
- Total population: 5,597,924
- Fit-for-service: 1,836,119
- Military strength score: 0.5664 – #41 out of 145
20. Latvia
Source: imantsu / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
- Total military personnel: 65,750
- Active personnel: 17,250
- Reserves: 36,000
- Paramilitary forces: 12,500
- Total population: 1,821,750
- Fit-for-service: 655,830
- Military strength score: 1.9911 – #99 out of 145
19. North Macedonia
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- Total military personnel: 72,500
- Active personnel: 9,000
- Reserves: 60,000
- Paramilitary forces: 3,500
- Total population: 2,133,410
- Fit-for-service: 782,961
- Military strength score: 2.1717 – #110 out of 145
18. Hungary
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- Total military personnel: 76,600
- Active personnel: 41,600
- Reserves: 20,000
- Paramilitary forces: 15,000
- Total population: 9,670,009
- Fit-for-service: 3,722,953
- Military strength score: 0.8478 – #54 out of 145
17. Sweden
Source: johan_h / iStock via Getty Images
- Total military personnel: 82,300
- Active personnel: 24,400
- Reserves: 32,900
- Paramilitary forces: 25,000
- Total population: 10,536,338
- Fit-for-service: 3,540,210
- Military strength score: 0.4009 – #29 out of 145
16. Denmark
Source: defenceimages / Flickr
- Total military personnel: 83,000
- Active personnel: 20,000
- Reserves: 12,000
- Paramilitary forces: 51,000
- Total population: 5,946,984
- Fit-for-service: 2,117,126
- Military strength score: 0.7743 – #48 out of 145
15. Estonia
Source: 2022 Getty Images / Getty Images News via Getty Images
- Total military personnel: 96,500
- Active personnel: 7,700
- Reserves: 78,800
- Paramilitary forces: 10,000
- Total population: 1,202,762
- Fit-for-service: 459,455
- Military strength score: 1.7237 – #87 out of 145
14. Canada
Source: 2020 Getty Images / Getty Images News via Getty Images
- Total military personnel: 100,500
- Active personnel: 68,000
- Reserves: 27,000
- Paramilitary forces: 5,500
- Total population: 38,516,736
- Fit-for-service: 13,403,824
- Military strength score: 0.3813 – #27 out of 145
13. Lithuania
Source: dvids / Flickr
- Total military personnel: 141,150
- Active personnel: 23,000
- Reserves: 104,000
- Paramilitary forces: 14,150
- Total population: 2,655,755
- Fit-for-service: 1,346,468
- Military strength score: 1.7395 – #88 out of 145
12. Romania
Source: 2022 Getty Images / Getty Images News via Getty Images
- Total military personnel: 151,300
- Active personnel: 81,300
- Reserves: 55,000
- Paramilitary forces: 15,000
- Total population: 18,326,327
- Fit-for-service: 7,807,015
- Military strength score: 0.7712 – #47 out of 145
11. Germany
Source: ewg3D / iStock via Getty Images
- Total military personnel: 215,600
- Active personnel: 181,600
- Reserves: 34,000
- Paramilitary forces: 0
- Total population: 84,220,184
- Fit-for-service: 30,993,028
- Military strength score: 0.2847 – #19 out of 145
10. Spain
Source: ManuelVelasco / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
- Total military personnel: 226,902
- Active personnel: 133,282
- Reserves: 15,150
- Paramilitary forces: 78,470
- Total population: 47,222,613
- Fit-for-service: 17,614,035
- Military strength score: 0.2882 – #20 out of 145
9. Portugal
Source: mtcurado / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
- Total military personnel: 260,400
- Active personnel: 24,000
- Reserves: 211,700
- Paramilitary forces: 24,700
- Total population: 10,467,366
- Fit-for-service: 4,029,936
- Military strength score: 0.5609 – #38 out of 145
8. Italy
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- Total military personnel: 289,000
- Active personnel: 165,500
- Reserves: 18,500
- Paramilitary forces: 105,000
- Total population: 61,021,855
- Fit-for-service: 22,211,955
- Military strength score: 0.1863 – #10 out of 145
7. France
Source: david_e_smith / Flickr
- Total military personnel: 376,000
- Active personnel: 200,000
- Reserves: 26,000
- Paramilitary forces: 150,000
- Total population: 68,521,974
- Fit-for-service: 23,845,647
- Military strength score: 0.1878 – #11 out of 145
6. Greece
Source: mscsealift / Flickr
- Total military personnel: 419,050
- Active personnel: 142,700
- Reserves: 221,350
- Paramilitary forces: 55,000
- Total population: 10,497,595
- Fit-for-service: 3,999,584
- Military strength score: 0.4349 – #32 out of 145
5. Poland
Source: Kamila Kozioå‚ (Koziolkamila) / iStock via Getty Images
- Total military personnel: 602,100
- Active personnel: 202,100
- Reserves: 350,000
- Paramilitary forces: 50,000
- Total population: 37,991,766
- Fit-for-service: 15,272,690
- Military strength score: 0.2917 – #21 out of 145
4. Turkey
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- Total military personnel: 883,900
- Active personnel: 355,200
- Reserves: 378,700
- Paramilitary forces: 150,000
- Total population: 83,593,483
- Fit-for-service: 3,561,604
- Military strength score: 0.1697 – #8 out of 145
3. Finland
Source: wstryder / Flickr
- Total military personnel: 947,800
- Active personnel: 24,000
- Reserves: 870,000
- Paramilitary forces: 53,800
- Total population: 5,614,571
- Fit-for-service: 1,908,954
- Military strength score: 0.7967 – #50 out of 145
2. United Kingdom
Source: ikholwadia / iStock via Getty Images
- Total military personnel: 1,108,860
- Active personnel: 184,860
- Reserves: 924,000
- Paramilitary forces: 0
- Total population: 68,138,484
- Fit-for-service: 25,074,962
- Military strength score: 0.1443 – #6 out of 145
1. United States
- Total military personnel: 2,127,500
- Active personnel: 1,328,000
- Reserves: 799,500
- Paramilitary forces: 0
- Total population: 339,665,118
- Fit-for-service: 123,977,768
- Military strength score: 0.0699 – #1 out of 145
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