Home

Italy vs. Switzerland

Military

ItalySwitzerland
Military branchesItalian Armed Forces: Army (Esercito Italiano, EI), Navy (Marina Militare Italiana, MMI; includes aviation, marines), Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare Italiana, AMI); Carabinieri Corps (Arma dei Carabinieri, CC) (2021)

note(s): the Carabinieri is the national gendarmerie; for its civil police functions, the Carabinieri falls under the control of the Ministry of the Interior; the Financial Guard (Guardia di Finanza) under the Ministry of Economy and Finance is a force with military status and nationwide remit for financial crime investigations, including narcotics trafficking, smuggling, and illegal immigration
Swiss Armed Forces: Land Forces, Swiss Air Force (Schweizer Luftwaffe) (2021)
Military service age and obligation18-25 years of age for voluntary military service; women may serve in any military branch; Italian citizenship required; 1-year service obligation; conscription abolished 2004 (2019)18-30 years of age generally for male compulsory military service; 18 years of age for voluntary male and female military service; every Swiss male has to serve at least 245 days in the armed forces; conscripts receive 18 weeks of mandatory training, followed by six 19-day intermittent recalls for training during the next 10 years (2021)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP1.39% of GDP (2020 est.)

1.18% of GDP (2019)

1.23% of GDP (2018)

1.2% of GDP (2017)

1.18% of GDP (2016)
0.7% of GDP (2019)

0.7% of GDP (2018)

0.7% of GDP (2017)

0.7% of GDP (2016)

0.7% of GDP (2015)
Military and security service personnel strengthsthe Italian Armed Forces have approximately 170,000 active personnel (100,000 Army; 30,000 Navy; 40,000 Air Force); approximately 107,000 Carabinieri (2020)the Swiss Armed Forces maintain a full-time professional cadre of about 4,000 personnel along with approximately 20,000 conscripts brought in annually for 18-23 weeks of training; approximately 120,000 reserve forces (2021)
Military equipment inventories and acquisitionsthe Italian Armed Forces' inventory includes a mix of domestically-produced, jointly-produced, and imported European and US weapons systems; the US is the leading supplier of weapons to Italy since 2010, followed by Germany; the Italian defense industry is capable of producing equipment across all the military domains with particular strengths in naval vessels and aircraft; it also participates in joint development and production of advanced weapons systems with other European countries and the US (2020)the Swiss Armed Forces inventory includes a mix of domestically-produced and imported weapons systems; the US is the leading supplier of military armaments to Switzerland since 2010; the Swiss defense industry produces a range of military land vehicles (2020)
Military deployments120 Djibouti; 1,100 Middle East/Iraq/Kuwait (NATO, counter-ISIS campaign, European Assistance Mission Iraq); 630 Kosovo (NATO/KFOR); 200 Latvia (NATO); 1,200 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 400 Libya; 290 Niger; 150 Somalia (EUTM) (2021)165 Kosovo (NATO/KFOR) (2021)

Source: CIA Factbook