Special Report

This Country Has the Biggest Reserve Army, See Where the US Ranks

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

At the onset of the war in Afghanistan in the early 2000s, the United States mobilized thousands of reservists to complement its active duty military personnel when entering the region. This practice is not uncommon when countries are preparing to go to war. In fact, Russia is relying on its reserve personnel in its current ongoing conflict in Ukraine. (These are the greatest armies ever assembled on Earth.)

Many countries around the world rely on their reservists should a conflict erupt and military personnel are needed. These members of the military, although not active duty, make up a key component of any military force.

To identify the countries with the most military reserve 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 reserves. We included supplemental information regarding active personnel, total population, fit-for-service, paramilitary forces, and overall military strength score.

Eight countries in the world are known to have reserve forces with more than 1 million at the ready, led by Vietnam’s estimated 5 million reservists, followed by the likes of Taiwan, Ukraine, and South Korea.

It is not surprising to find countries with large populations on this list. However, the number of reservists does not necessarily depend on the size of the population. Countries with relatively small populations, like Israel and Finland, have outsized reserves comparatively speaking. (These are the NATO members with the most military manpower.)

Outside of active troops and reservists, countries also have a third broad category of military personnel: paramilitary organizations, state-sanctioned forces that have sometimes acted outside the rules of engagement.

Here is a look at the countries with the most military reserve personnel:

30. Paraguay

NatanaelGinting / iStock
  • Reserves: 168,500
  • Total military personnel: 199,150
  • Active personnel: 15,650
  • Paramilitary forces: 15,000
  • Total population: 7,439,863
  • Fit-for-service: 2,968,505
  • Military strength score: 1.7053 – #85 out of 145

29. Thailand

usnavy / Flickr
  • Reserves: 200,000
  • Total military personnel: 585,850
  • Active personnel: 360,850
  • Paramilitary forces: 25,000
  • Total population: 69,794,997
  • Fit-for-service: 27,917,999
  • Military strength score: 0.3389 – #25 out of 145

28. Armenia

Joel Carillet / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
  • Reserves: 210,000
  • Total military personnel: 272,500
  • Active personnel: 57,500
  • Paramilitary forces: 5,000
  • Total population: 2,989,091
  • Fit-for-service: 1,371,993
  • Military strength score: 2.0583 – #102 out of 145

27. Portugal

mtcurado / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
  • Reserves: 211,700
  • Total military personnel: 260,400
  • Active personnel: 24,000
  • Paramilitary forces: 24,700
  • Total population: 10,467,366
  • Fit-for-service: 4,029,936
  • Military strength score: 0.5609 – #38 out of 145

26. Greece

BalkansCat / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
  • Reserves: 221,350
  • Total military personnel: 419,050
  • Active personnel: 142,700
  • Paramilitary forces: 55,000
  • Total population: 10,497,595
  • Fit-for-service: 3,999,584
  • Military strength score: 0.4349 – #32 out of 145

25. Singapore

Singapore+submarine | Sailors observe as the ship passes the Seawolf-Class attack submarine USS Connecticut.
usnavy / Flickr
  • Reserves: 252,500
  • Total military personnel: 315,500
  • Active personnel: 51,000
  • Paramilitary forces: 12,000
  • Total population: 5,975,383
  • Fit-for-service: 2,605,267
  • Military strength score: 0.4087 – #30 out of 145

24. Azerbaijan

Public Domain / usarmyeurope_images / Flickr
  • Reserves: 300,000
  • Total military personnel: 441,400
  • Active personnel: 126,400
  • Paramilitary forces: 15,000
  • Total population: 10,420,515
  • Fit-for-service: 3,824,329
  • Military strength score: 0.9934 – #59 out of 145

23. Kyrgyzstan

usairforce / Flickr
  • Reserves: 300,000
  • Total military personnel: 378,000
  • Active personnel: 23,000
  • Paramilitary forces: 55,000
  • Total population: 6,122,781
  • Fit-for-service: 2,467,481
  • Military strength score: 2.0057 – #100 out of 145

22. Brazil

thenationalguard / Flickr
  • Reserves: 340,000
  • Total military personnel: 900,000
  • Active personnel: 360,000
  • Paramilitary forces: 200,000
  • Total population: 218,689,757
  • Fit-for-service: 88,131,972
  • Military strength score: 0.1944 – #12 out of 145

21. Iran

Majid Saeedi / Getty Images News via Getty Images
  • Reserves: 350,000
  • Total military personnel: 1,180,000
  • Active personnel: 610,000
  • Paramilitary forces: 220,000
  • Total population: 87,590,873
  • Fit-for-service: 41,167,710
  • Military strength score: 0.2269 – #14 out of 145

20. Poland

Kamila Kozioå‚ (Koziolkamila) / iStock via Getty Images
  • Reserves: 350,000
  • Total military personnel: 602,100
  • Active personnel: 202,100
  • Paramilitary forces: 50,000
  • Total population: 37,991,766
  • Fit-for-service: 15,272,690
  • Military strength score: 0.2917 – #21 out of 145

19. Turkey

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
  • Reserves: 378,700
  • Total military personnel: 883,900
  • Active personnel: 355,200
  • Paramilitary forces: 150,000
  • Total population: 83,593,483
  • Fit-for-service: 3,561,604
  • Military strength score: 0.1697 – #8 out of 145

18. Peru

feserc / Flickr
  • Reserves: 385,000
  • Total military personnel: 565,000
  • Active personnel: 120,000
  • Paramilitary forces: 60,000
  • Total population: 32,440,172
  • Fit-for-service: 12,619,227
  • Military strength score: 0.8475 – #53 out of 145

17. Indonesia

AWG97 / Wikimedia Commons
  • Reserves: 400,000
  • Total military personnel: 1,050,000
  • Active personnel: 400,000
  • Paramilitary forces: 250,000
  • Total population: 279,476,346
  • Fit-for-service: 113,746,873
  • Military strength score: 0.2251 – #13 out of 145

16. Israel

usembassyjlm / Flickr
  • Reserves: 465,000
  • Total military personnel: 670,000
  • Active personnel: 170,000
  • Paramilitary forces: 35,000
  • Total population: 9,043,387
  • Fit-for-service: 3,156,142
  • Military strength score: 0.2596 – #17 out of 145

15. Egypt

MC3 Scott Pittman/usnavy / Flickr
  • Reserves: 480,000
  • Total military personnel: 1,220,000
  • Active personnel: 440,000
  • Paramilitary forces: 300,000
  • Total population: 109,546,720
  • Fit-for-service: 37,684,072
  • Military strength score: 0.2283 – #15 out of 145

14. China

Pool / Getty Images News via Getty Images
  • Reserves: 510,000
  • Total military personnel: 3,170,000
  • Active personnel: 2,035,000
  • Paramilitary forces: 625,000
  • Total population: 1,413,142,846
  • Fit-for-service: 626,022,281
  • Military strength score: 0.0706 – #3 out of 145

13. Pakistan

dvids / Flickr
  • Reserves: 550,000
  • Total military personnel: 1,704,000
  • Active personnel: 654,000
  • Paramilitary forces: 500,000
  • Total population: 247,653,551
  • Fit-for-service: 84,202,207
  • Military strength score: 0.1711 – #9 out of 145

12. North Korea

alexkuehni / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
  • Reserves: 560,000
  • Total military personnel: 1,980,000
  • Active personnel: 1,320,000
  • Paramilitary forces: 100,000
  • Total population: 26,072,217
  • Fit-for-service: 5,266,588
  • Military strength score: 0.5313 – #36 out of 145

11. Tajikistan

thenationalguard / Flickr
  • Reserves: 600,000
  • Total military personnel: 629,500
  • Active personnel: 9,500
  • Paramilitary forces: 20,000
  • Total population: 9,245,937
  • Fit-for-service: 3,356,275
  • Military strength score: 2.1265 – #107 out of 145

10. United States

thenationalguard / Flickr
  • Reserves: 799,500
  • Total military personnel: 2,127,500
  • Active personnel: 1,328,000
  • Paramilitary forces: 0
  • Total population: 339,665,118
  • Fit-for-service: 123,977,768
  • Military strength score: 0.0699 – #1 out of 145

9. Finland

wstryder / Flickr
  • Reserves: 870,000
  • Total military personnel: 947,800
  • Active personnel: 24,000
  • Paramilitary forces: 53,800
  • Total population: 5,614,571
  • Fit-for-service: 1,908,954
  • Military strength score: 0.7967 – #50 out of 145

8. United Kingdom

ikholwadia / iStock via Getty Images
  • Reserves: 924,000
  • Total military personnel: 1,108,860
  • Active personnel: 184,860
  • Paramilitary forces: 0
  • Total population: 68,138,484
  • Fit-for-service: 25,074,962
  • Military strength score: 0.1443 – #6 out of 145

7. India

BDphoto / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
  • Reserves: 1,155,000
  • Total military personnel: 5,137,550
  • Active personnel: 1,455,550
  • Paramilitary forces: 2,527,000
  • Total population: 1,399,179,585
  • Fit-for-service: 519,095,626
  • Military strength score: 0.1023 – #4 out of 145

6. Philippines

ClaudineVM / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
  • Reserves: 1,200,000
  • Total military personnel: 1,385,000
  • Active personnel: 150,000
  • Paramilitary forces: 35,000
  • Total population: 116,434,200
  • Fit-for-service: 41,101,273
  • Military strength score: 0.4691 – #34 out of 145

5. Ukraine

president_of_ukraine / Flickr
  • Reserves: 1,200,000
  • Total military personnel: 2,200,000
  • Active personnel: 900,000
  • Paramilitary forces: 100,000
  • Total population: 43,306,477
  • Fit-for-service: 15,460,412
  • Military strength score: 0.2598 – #18 out of 145

4. Russia

Kichigin / iStock via Getty Images
  • Reserves: 2,000,000
  • Total military personnel: 3,570,000
  • Active personnel: 1,320,000
  • Paramilitary forces: 250,000
  • Total population: 141,698,923
  • Fit-for-service: 46,477,247
  • Military strength score: 0.0702 – #2 out of 145

3. Taiwan

presidentialoffice / Flickr
  • Reserves: 2,310,000
  • Total military personnel: 2,580,000
  • Active personnel: 215,000
  • Paramilitary forces: 55,000
  • Total population: 23,588,613
  • Fit-for-service: 1,061,488
  • Military strength score: 0.3302 – #24 out of 145

2. South Korea

Chung Sung-Jun / Getty Images News via Getty Images
  • Reserves: 3,100,000
  • Total military personnel: 3,820,000
  • Active personnel: 600,000
  • Paramilitary forces: 120,000
  • Total population: 51,966,948
  • Fit-for-service: 21,306,449
  • Military strength score: 0.1416 – #5 out of 145

1. Vietnam

knittymarie / Flickr
  • Reserves: 5,000,000
  • Total military personnel: 5,850,000
  • Active personnel: 600,000
  • Paramilitary forces: 250,000
  • Total population: 104,799,174
  • Fit-for-service: 44,644,448
  • Military strength score: 0.3158 – #22 out of 145

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