List Of Countries By Number Of Military And Paramilitary Personnel

It includes any government-sponsored soldiers used to further the domestic and foreign policies of their respective government. The term "country" is used in its most common use, in the sense of state which exercises sovereignty or has limited recognition.

The list consists of columns that can be sorted by clicking on the appropriate title:

• The names of the states, accompanied by their respective national flags.
• The number of military personnel on active duty that are currently serving full-time in their military capacity.
• The number of military personnel in the reserve forces that are not normally kept under arms, whose role is to be available to mobilize when necessary.
• The number of personnel in paramilitary forces: armed units that are not considered part of a nation's formal military forces.
• The total number of active, reserve, and paramilitary personnel.
• The ratio per thousand inhabitants of total military (active, reserve, and paramilitary).
• The ratio per thousand inhabitants of active military only.

As military forces around the world are constantly changing in size, no definitive list can ever be compiled.

All of the 172 countries listed here, especially those with the highest number of total soldiers such as the two Koreas and Vietnam, include a large number of paramilitaries, civilians and policemen in their reserve personnel. Some countries, such as Italy and Japan, have only volunteers in their armed forces. Other countries, such as Mauritius and Panama, have no national armies, but only a paramilitary force.

Tooth-to-tail ratio

The numbers of military personnel listed include both support personnel (supplies, construction, and contracting) and actual combat personnel. For a typical country, the proportion of this total that comprises actual combat forces is about 26%^{[citation needed]} (so, for every soldier there will be around three support personnel). This proportion is referred to as the "tooth-to-tail ratio".

Some countries have a considerably smaller tooth-to-tail ratio: For example, the United States Armed Forces has a tooth-to-tail ratio of 17%, meaning that for every combat unit there are around five support units.

 

According to International Institute for Strategic Studies

Flag	Country	Active military	Reserve military	Paramilitary	Total	Per 1,000 capita (total)	Per 1,000 capita (active)
	Afghanistan	250,000	75,000	170,000	495,000	14.2	7.2
	Albania	8,000	0	0	8,000	2.6	2.6
	Algeria	130,000	150,000	187,200	467,200	11.2	3.1
	Angola	107,000	0	10,000	117,000	3.9	3.5
	Antigua and Barbuda	180	80	0	260	2.7	1.9
	Argentina	72,100	0	31,250	103,350	2.3	1.6
	Armenia	44,800	210,000	4,300	259,100	85.3	14.7
	Australia	58,600	30,100	0	88,700	3.8	2.5
	Austria	22,050	125,600	0	147,650	16.8	2.5
	Azerbaijan	126,950	330,000	15,000	471,950	47	12.6
	Bahamas	1,300	0	0	1,300	3.9	3.9
	Bahrain	8,200	0	11,260	19,460	13.5	5.7
	Bangladesh	163,050	0	63,900	226,950	1.4	1
	Barbados	610	430	0	1,040	3.6	2.1
	Belarus	45,350	289,500	110,000	444,850	46.7	4.8
	Belgium	26,300	5,100	0	31,400	2.7	2.3
	Belize	1,500	700	150	2,350	6.1	3.9
	Benin	7,250	0	4,800	12,050	1.1	0.6
	Bolivia	34,100	0	37,100	71,200	6.3	3
	Bosnia and Herzegovina	10,500	0	0	10,500	2.7	2.7
	Botswana	9,000	0	0	9,000	4	4
	Brazil	366,500	1,340,000	395,000	2,101,500	10.1	1.8
	Brunei	7,200	700	450	8,350	18.5	16
	Bulgaria	36,950	3,000	0	39,950	5.7	5.2
	Burkina Faso	11,200	0	250	11,450	0.6	0.6
	Burundi	30,050	0	21,000	51,050	4.3	2.5
	Cambodia	124,300	0	67,000	191,300	11.6	7.6
	Cameroon	25,400	0	9,000	34,400	1.3	1
	Canada	67,400	35,600	4,500	107,500	3	1.9
	Cape Verde	1,200	0	0	1,200	2.1	2.1
	Central African Republic	9,150	0	1,000	10,150	1.8	1.6
	Chad	33,250	0	11,900	45,150	2.9	2.1
	Chile	77,200	40,000	44,700	161,900	9	4.3
	People's Republic of China	2,185,000	1,170,000	660,000	4,015,000	2.9	1.6
	Colombia	293,200	34,950	187,900	516,050	10.7	6.1
	Costa Rica	0	0	9,800	9,800	2	0
	Côte d'Ivoire	27,400	0	0	27,400	1	1
	Croatia	15,200	18,350	3,000	36,550	8.6	3.6
	Cuba	49,000	39,000	1,146,500	1,234,500	110.9	4.4
	Cyprus	15,000	50,000	750	65,750	53.1	12.1
	Czech Republic	21,750	0	0	21,750	2	2
	Democratic Republic of the Congo	134,250	0	0	134,250	1.6	1.6
	Denmark	14,500	44,000	0	58,500	10.1	2.5
	Djibouti	10,450	0	2,650	13,100	14.8	11.8
	Dominican Republic	56,050	0	15,000	71,050	6.9	5.4
	East Timor	2,280	0	0	2,280	1.7	1.7
	Ecuador	40,250	118,000	500	158,750	9.6	2.4
	Egypt	438,500	479,000	397,000	1,314,500	13.2	4.4
	El Salvador	24,500	9,900	17,000	51,400	8.3	4
	Equatorial Guinea	1,450	0	0	1,450	1.8	1.8
	Eritrea	201,750	120,000	0	321,750	53.9	33.8
	Estonia	7,100	17,500	0	24,600	19.8	5.7
	Ethiopia	138,000	0	0	138,000	1.3	1.3
	Fiji	3,500	6,000	0	9,500	10.3	3.8
	Finland	23,800	254,000	14,200	292,000	52.7	4.3
	France	208,750	141,050	30,800	380,600	5.6	3.1
	Gabon	4,700	0	2,000	6,700	3.2	2.2
	Gambia	800	0	0	800	0.4	0.4
	Georgia	20,650	0	5,400	26,050	5.3	4.2
	Germany	183,500	50,050	0	233,550	2.9	2.3
	Ghana	15,500	0	0	15,500	0.6	0.6
	Greece	142,700	221,350	4,000	368,050	34.2	13.3
	Guatemala	18,050	63,850	25,000	106,900	6.4	1.1
	Guinea	9,700	0	2,600	12,300	1	0.8
	Guinea-Bissau	4,450	0	0	4,450	2.4	2.4
	Guyana	3,400	670	0	4,070	5.5	4.6
	Haiti	150	0	50	200	0	0
	Honduras	14,950	60,000	8,000	82,950	9	1.6
	Hungary	27,800	20,000	12,000	59,800	6.1	2.8
	Iceland	0	0	250	250	0.7	0
	India	1,455,550	1,155,000	2,526,950	5,137,500	4	1.1
	Indonesia	395,500	400,000	280,000	1,075,500	4.1	1.5
	Iran	610,000	350,000	40,000	1,000,000	12	7.3
	Iraq	193,000	0	148,000	341,000	8.5	4.8
	Ireland	9,500	4,050	0	13,550	2.7	1.9
	Israel	169,500	465,000	8,000	642,500	76.3	20.1
	Italy	165,500	18,300	175,750	359,550	5.8	2.7
	Jamaica	3,950	980	0	4,930	1.8	1.4
	Japan	247,150	56,000	14,350	317,500	2.5	2
	Jordan	100,500	65,000	15,000	180,500	17.3	9.6
	Kazakhstan	39,000	0	31,500	70,500	3.8	2.1
	Kenya	24,100	0	5,000	29,100	0.6	0.5
	Kosovo	5,000	3,000	1,500	9,500	5	2.6
	Kuwait	17,500	23,700	7,100	48,300	16.6	6
	Kyrgyzstan	10,900	0	9,500	20,400	3.5	1.9
	Laos	29,100	0	100,000	129,100	17.8	4
	Latvia	6,210	15,900	0	22,110	11.5	3.2
	Lebanon	60,000	0	20,000	80,000	13.1	9.8
	Lesotho	2,000	0	0	2,000	1	1
	Liberia	2,010	0	0	2,010	0.4	0.4
	Libya	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Lithuania	19,850	6,700	14,400	40,950	14.7	7.1
	Luxembourg	900	0	600	1,500	2.5	1.5
	Madagascar	13,500	0	8,100	21,600	0.8	0.5
	Malawi	10,700	0	4,200	14,900	0.8	0.5
	Malaysia	113,000	51,600	267,200	431,800	13.6	3.6
	Mali	13,000	0	7,800	20,800	1.1	0.7
	Malta	1,950	180	0	2,130	4.7	4.3
	Mauritania	15,850	0	5,000	20,850	5.4	4.1
	Mauritius	0	0	2,550	2,550	1.9	0
	Mexico	216,000	81,500	111,900	409,400	3.3	1.7
	Moldova	5,150	58,000	900	64,050	18.6	1.5
	Mongolia	9,700	137,000	7,500	154,200	49.7	3.1
	Montenegro	2,350	0	10,100	12,450	20.3	3.8
	Morocco	195,800	150,000	50,000	395,800	11.5	5.7
	Mozambique	11,200	0	0	11,200	0.4	0.4
	Myanmar	406,000	0	107,000	513,000	9.2	7.3
	Namibia	9,900	0	6,000	15,900	6.3	3.9
	Nepal	96,600	0	15,000	111,600	3.8	3.3
	Netherlands	35,400	4,500	5,900	45,800	2.7	2.1
	New Zealand	9,000	2,300	0	11,300	2.5	2
	Nicaragua	12,000	0	0	12,000	2	2
	Niger	5,300	0	5,400	10,700	0.5	0.3
	Nigeria	143,000	0	80,000	223,000	1.1	0.7
	North Korea	1,280,000	600,000	5,889,000	7,769,000	306.1	50.4
	North Macedonia	8,000	4,850	7,600	20,450	9.7	3.8
	Norway	23,250	40,000	0	63,250	11.8	4.3
	Oman	42,600	0	4,400	47,000	13.5	12.2
	Pakistan	660,000	550,000	291,000	1,501,000	6.2	2.7
	Palestine	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Panama	0	0	26,000	26,000	6.8	0
	Papua New Guinea	3,600	0	0	3,600	0.5	0.5
	Paraguay	13,950	164,500	14,800	193,250	27.5	2
	Peru	81,000	188,000	77,000	346,000	11	2.6
	Philippines	143,100	131,000	62,300	336,400	3.2	1.4
	Poland	114,050	0	75,400	189,450	4.9	3
	Portugal	27,250	211,700	24,700	263,650	25.5	2.6
	Qatar	16,500	0	5,000	21,500	9.1	7
	Republic of the Congo	10,000	0	2,000	12,000	2.4	2
	Romania	69,300	50,000	57,000	176,300	8.2	3.2
	Russia	1,320,000	2,000,000	554,000	3,874,000	27.3	9.3
	Rwanda	33,000	0	2,000	35,000	2.9	2.7
	Saudi Arabia	227,000	0	24,500	251,500	7.6	6.9
	Senegal	13,600	0	5,000	18,600	1.2	0.9
	Serbia	28,150	50,150	3,700	82,000	11.6	4
	Seychelles	420	0	0	420	4.4	4.4
	Sierra Leone	8,500	0	0	8,500	1.3	1.3
	Singapore	51,000	252,500	7,400	310,900	51.9	8.5
	Slovakia	15,850	0	0	15,850	2.9	2.9
	Slovenia	7,250	1,500	5,950	14,700	7	3.4
	Somalia	19,800	0	0	19,800	1.8	1.8
	South Africa	65,350	15,050	0	80,400	1.5	1.2
	South Korea	599,000	3,100,000	3,013,500	6,712,500	130.5	11.6
	South Sudan	185,000	0	0	185,000	18.1	18.1
	Spain	120,350	15,150	75,800	211,300	4.4	2.5
	Sri Lanka	255,000	5,500	92,600	353,100	15.6	11.3
	Sudan	104,300	0	105,000	209,300	4.9	2.4
	Suriname	1,840	0	0	1,840	3.1	3.1
	Sweden	29,750	0	21,200	50,950	5.1	3
	Switzerland	19,550	196,450	0	216,000	26	2.4
	Syria	169,000	0	100,000	269,000	13.8	8.7
	Taiwan (Republic of China)	163,000	1,657,000	11,800	1,831,800	77.8	6.9
	Tajikistan	8,800	0	7,500	16,300	1.9	1
	Tanzania	27,000	80,000	1,400	108,400	2	0.5
	Thailand	360,850	200,000	138,700	699,550	10.2	5.3
	Togo	8,550	0	750	9,300	1.1	1
	Transnistria	4,500	15,000	0	19,500	53.4	12.3
	Trinidad and Tobago	4,050	0	0	4,050	3.3	3.3
	Tunisia	35,800	0	12,000	47,800	4.2	3.1
	Turkey	355,200	378,700	156,800	890,700	11	4.4
	Turkmenistan	36,500	0	5,000	41,500	7.7	6.7
	Uganda	45,000	10,000	1,400	56,400	1.4	1.1
	Ukraine	209,000	900,000	102,000	1,211,000	27.6	4.8
	United Arab Emirates	63,000	130,000	0	193,000	19.9	6.5
	United Kingdom	196,453	78,600	0	275,053	4.2	3
	United States	1,328,000	744,950	0	2,072,950	6.3	4
	Uruguay	21,000	0	1,400	22,400	6.6	6.2
	Uzbekistan	48,000	0	20,000	68,000	2.3	1.6
	Vanuatu	0	0	300	300	0.9	0
	Vatican City	0	135	0	135	259.6	0
	Venezuela	123,000	8,000	220,000	351,000	11.1	3.9
	Vietnam	482,000	5,000,000	40,000	5,522,000	56.9	5
	Yemen	40,000	0	0	40,000	1.4	1.4
	Zambia	15,100	3,000	1,400	19,500	1.2	0.9
	Zimbabwe	29,000	0	21,800	50,800	3.6	2.1

Not included in the list are the militaries of Abkhazia, Andorra, Bhutan, Comoros, Eswatini, Maldives, Monaco, Northern Cyprus, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Saint Kitts and Nevis, San Marino, São Tomé and Príncipe, Somaliland, South Ossetia, Tonga.

• List of countries by level of military equipment
• List of countries by military expenditures
• List of countries by military expenditure per capita
• List of countries by Global Militarization Index
• List of countries without armed forces
• List of militaries by country
• List of militaries that recruit foreigners
• List of countries that prohibit paramilitary organizations outside government armed forces
• List of countries and dependencies by number of police officers