Armed forces personnel (% of total labor force) - Country Ranking

Definition: Armed forces personnel are active duty military personnel, including paramilitary forces if the training, organization, equipment, and control suggest they may be used to support or replace regular military forces. Labor force comprises all people who meet the International Labour Organization's definition of the economically active population.

Source: International Institute for Strategic Studies, The Military Balance.

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 Eritrea 12.38 2019
2 Dem. People's Rep. Korea 8.68 2019
3 Djibouti 5.88 2019
4 Syrian Arab Republic 5.18 2019
5 Jordan 4.40 2019
6 Israel 4.29 2019
7 Montenegro 4.11 2019
8 Armenia 3.87 2019
9 Sri Lanka 3.74 2019
10 Brunei 3.70 2019
11 Lebanon 3.55 2019
12 Lao PDR 3.44 2019
13 Iraq 3.33 2019
14 Venezuela 3.14 2019
15 Belarus 3.08 2019
16 Greece 3.06 2019
17 Egypt 2.98 2019
18 Afghanistan 2.68 2019
19 Cyprus 2.55 2019
20 Algeria 2.54 2019
21 Lithuania 2.51 2019
22 Bhutan 2.41 2000
23 Iran 2.38 2019
24 São Tomé and Principe 2.34 1999
25 Turkmenistan 2.19 2019
26 Myanmar 2.15 2019
27 Korea 2.13 2019
28 Cambodia 2.07 2019
29 Morocco 2.03 2019
30 Russia 1.98 2019
31 Bahrain 1.97 2019
32 Colombia 1.83 2019
33 Namibia 1.73 2019
34 Oman 1.71 2019
35 Mauritania 1.71 2019
36 Singapore 1.67 2019
37 Saudi Arabia 1.66 2019
38 North Macedonia 1.66 2019
39 Azerbaijan 1.61 2019
40 Côte d'Ivoire 1.60 2019
41 Turkey 1.53 2019
42 El Salvador 1.51 2019
43 Ukraine 1.48 2019
44 Cuba 1.42 2019
45 Dominican Republic 1.40 2019
46 Romania 1.40 2019
47 Georgia 1.39 2019
48 Panama 1.37 2019
49 Chile 1.34 2019
50 Mongolia 1.33 2019
51 Italy 1.32 2019
52 Pakistan 1.32 2019
53 Uruguay 1.26 2019
54 Bolivia 1.26 2019
55 Thailand 1.17 2019
56 Tunisia 1.16 2019
57 Belize 1.14 2019
58 Fiji 1.11 2019
59 Bulgaria 1.10 2019
60 Gabon 1.05 2019
61 Poland 1.04 2019
62 Burundi 1.03 2019
63 Eswatini 1.02 1999
64 Kuwait 1.02 2019
65 Qatar 1.02 2019
66 Croatia 1.01 2019
67 Serbia 1.00 2019
68 France 1.00 2019
69 Estonia 0.99 2019
70 Sudan 0.99 2019
71 Portugal 0.98 2019
72 Guyana 0.98 2019
73 Finland 0.98 2019
74 Botswana 0.98 2019
75 United Arab Emirates 0.95 2019
76 Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.93 2019
77 Vietnam 0.93 2019
78 The Bahamas 0.91 2019
79 Angola 0.89 2019
80 Chad 0.89 2019
81 Malaysia 0.86 2019
82 Spain 0.85 2019
83 Peru 0.84 2019
84 Suriname 0.84 2019
85 Hungary 0.84 2019
86 United States 0.83 2019
87 Kyrgyz Republic 0.82 2019
88 Norway 0.81 2019
89 Paraguay 0.80 2019
90 Kazakhstan 0.77 2019
91 Trinidad and Tobago 0.76 2019
92 Malta 0.75 2019
93 Brazil 0.73 2019
94 Zimbabwe 0.71 2019
95 Somalia 0.71 2019
96 Tajikistan 0.71 2019
97 Slovenia 0.68 2019
98 Barbados 0.67 2019
99 Nepal 0.67 2019
100 Guatemala 0.64 2019
101 Moldova 0.63 2019
102 India 0.63 2019
103 Latvia 0.61 2019
104 Yemen 0.61 2019
105 Slovak Republic 0.58 2019
106 Mexico 0.58 2019
107 Albania 0.56 2019
108 Rwanda 0.55 2019
109 Honduras 0.54 2019
110 Central African Republic 0.52 2019
111 The Gambia 0.52 2019
112 Ecuador 0.51 2019
113 Guinea-Bissau 0.51 2019
114 Argentina 0.50 2019
115 Belgium 0.50 2019
116 Indonesia 0.50 2019
117 Denmark 0.49 2019
118 Mauritius 0.49 2019
119 Uzbekistan 0.48 2019
120 Austria 0.47 2019
121 Czech Republic 0.46 2019
122 Senegal 0.45 2019
123 Cabo Verde 0.44 2019
124 Australia 0.44 2019
125 Netherlands 0.43 2019
126 Dem. Rep. Congo 0.43 2019
127 United Kingdom 0.43 2019
128 Germany 0.41 2019
129 Jamaica 0.41 2019
130 Costa Rica 0.40 2019
131 Nicaragua 0.40 2019
132 Switzerland 0.40 2019
133 South Africa 0.39 2019
134 Japan 0.38 2019
135 Ireland 0.37 2019
136 Timor-Leste 0.37 2019
137 Togo 0.36 2019
138 Nigeria 0.36 2019
139 Philippines 0.35 2019
140 Canada 0.35 2019
141 Sierra Leone 0.34 2019
142 Bangladesh 0.33 2019
143 New Zealand 0.32 2019
144 China 0.32 2019
145 Luxembourg 0.32 2019
146 Cameroon 0.30 2019
147 Mali 0.29 2019
148 Guinea 0.28 2019
149 Uganda 0.28 2019
150 Sweden 0.27 2019
151 Ethiopia 0.26 2019
152 Benin 0.25 2019
153 Zambia 0.22 2019
154 Lesotho 0.21 2019
155 Equatorial Guinea 0.21 2019
156 Malawi 0.18 2019
157 Madagascar 0.16 2019
158 Burkina Faso 0.15 2019
159 Papua New Guinea 0.15 2019
160 Kenya 0.12 2019
161 Ghana 0.12 2019
162 Niger 0.12 2019
163 Tanzania 0.10 2019
164 Liberia 0.09 2019
165 Mozambique 0.08 2019
166 Haiti 0.02 2019
167 Libya 0.00 2014
167 Congo 0.00 2019
167 Iceland 0.00 2019

More rankings: Africa | Asia | Central America & the Caribbean | Europe | Middle East | North America | Oceania | South America | World |

Development Relevance: Although national defense is an important function of government and security from external threats that contributes to economic development, high military expenditures for defense or civil conflicts burden the economy and may impede growth. Data on military expenditures are a rough indicator of the portion of national resources used for military activities and of the burden on the economy. Comparisons of military spending among countries should take into account the many factors that influence perceptions of vulnerability and risk, including historical and cultural traditions, the length of borders that need defending, the quality of relations with neighbors, and the role of the armed forces in the body politic.

Limitations and Exceptions: Data exclude personnel not on active duty, therefore they underestimate the share of the labor force working for the defense establishment. Governments rarely report the size of their armed forces, so such data typically come from intelligence sources. Unless otherwise indicated, reserves includes all reservists committed to rejoining the armed forces in an emergency, except when national reserve service obligations following conscription last almost a lifetime.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Military data on manpower represent quantitative assessment of the personnel strengths of the world's armed forces. The numbers are based on the most accurate data available to, or, on the best estimate that can be made by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) at the time of its annual publication. The IISS collects the data from national governments. Armed forces personnel comprise all servicemen and women on full-time duty (including conscripts and long-term assignments from the Reserves). Reserve describes formations and units not fully manned or operational in peacetime, but which can be mobilized by recalling reservists in an emergency. IISS estimates of effective reservist strengths on the numbers available within five years of completing full-time service, unless there is good evidence that obligations are enforced for longer. Although paramilitary forces whose training, organization, equipment and control suggest they may be used to support or replace regular military forces, they are not included in the armed forces personnel. Home Guard units are counted as paramilitary. Data are shown as percentage of total labor force. According to International Labour Organization (ILO armed forces occupations include all jobs held by members of the armed forces. Members of the armed forces are those personnel who are currently serving in the armed forces, including auxiliary services, whether on a voluntary or compulsory basis, and who are not free to accept civilian employment and are subject to military discipline. Included are regular members of the army, navy, air force and other military services, as well as conscripts enrolled for military training or other service for a specified period. Excluded are persons in civilian employment of government establishments concerned with defense issues; police (other than military police); customs inspectors and members of border or other armed civilian services; persons who have been temporarily withdrawn from civilian life for a short period of military training or retraining, according to national requirements, and members of military reserves not currently on active service.

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual

General Comments: Data for some countries are based on partial or uncertain data or rough estimates.