It has been more than 18 months Russia’s army invaded Ukraine, and despite a number of major offensives and territories changing hands, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. Many experts believed the war would be over in just a few weeks, noting that the Russia’s armed forces surpasses Ukraine’s in the number of weapons, personnel, and budget, many times over. (For reference, here are the latest Russian and Ukrainian vehicle losses, as of August.)
Those assumptions about the war ending quickly left out a few key factors. First, defenders usually have an advantage, both in motivation to fight and in knowledge of the terrain. Secondly, Ukraine isn’t fighting alone, as it has received significant support from its global allies, many of whom rank among the world’s leading military powers.
To determine the 20 countries with the strongest military might, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed 2023 Military Strength Ranking from Global Firepower, an annually updated defense-related statistics website with information on 145 countries. Global Firepower ranked 145 countries based on their PowerIndex, a composite of over 60 measures in categories such as military might, financials, logistical capability, and geography. The smaller the PowerIndex value the more powerful a nation’s theoretical conventional fighting capability is. (These are the largest air forces in the world.)
Here is a look at the 20 countries with the strongest military might:
Click here to see our detailed methodology.
20. Poland
> Global Firepower PowerIndex score: 0.3406
> Armed forces personnel: 152,500 (0.4% of population)
> Active military aircraft: 459 (0.86% of global fleet)
> Defense expenditure (2022) $16.6 billion (0.74% of global military expenditure)
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19. Vietnam
> Global Firepower PowerIndex score: 0.2855
> Armed forces personnel: 3.01 million (2.9% of population)
> Active military aircraft: 223 (0.42% of global fleet)
> Defense expenditure (2022) Not available
18. Israel
> Global Firepower PowerIndex score: 0.2757
> Armed forces personnel: 646,000 (7.2% of population)
> Active military aircraft: 601 (1.13% of global fleet)
> Defense expenditure (2022) $23.4 billion (1.04% of global military expenditure)
17. Iran
> Global Firepower PowerIndex score: 0.2712
> Armed forces personnel: 1.01 million (1.2% of population)
> Active military aircraft: 541 (1.02% of global fleet)
> Defense expenditure (2022) $6.8 billion (0.31% of global military expenditure)
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16. Australia
> Global Firepower PowerIndex score: 0.2567
> Armed forces personnel: 90,500 (0.3% of population)
> Active military aircraft: 353 (0.66% of global fleet)
> Defense expenditure (2022) $32.3 billion (1.44% of global military expenditure)
15. Ukraine
> Global Firepower PowerIndex score: 0.2516
> Armed forces personnel: 500,000 (1.1% of population)
> Active military aircraft: 312 (0.59% of global fleet)
> Defense expenditure (2022) $44.0 billion (1.96% of global military expenditure)
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14. Egypt
> Global Firepower PowerIndex score: 0.2224
> Armed forces personnel: 1.22 million (1.1% of population)
> Active military aircraft: 1,069 (2.01% of global fleet)
> Defense expenditure (2022) $4.6 billion (0.21% of global military expenditure)
13. Indonesia
> Global Firepower PowerIndex score: 0.2221
> Armed forces personnel: 1.08 million (0.4% of population)
> Active military aircraft: 466 (0.87% of global fleet)
> Defense expenditure (2022) $9.0 billion (0.40% of global military expenditure)
12. Brazil
> Global Firepower PowerIndex score: 0.2151
> Armed forces personnel: 2.10 million (1.0% of population)
> Active military aircraft: 665 (1.25% of global fleet)
> Defense expenditure (2022) $20.2 billion (0.90% of global military expenditure)
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11. Turkey
> Global Firepower PowerIndex score: 0.2016
> Armed forces personnel: 775,000 (0.9% of population)
> Active military aircraft: 1,065 (2.00% of global fleet)
> Defense expenditure (2022) $10.6 billion (0.48% of global military expenditure)
10. Italy
> Global Firepower PowerIndex score: 0.1973
> Armed forces personnel: 297,000 (0.5% of population)
> Active military aircraft: 850 (1.60% of global fleet)
> Defense expenditure (2022) $33.5 billion (1.50% of global military expenditure)
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9. France
> Global Firepower PowerIndex score: 0.1848
> Armed forces personnel: 415,000 (0.6% of population)
> Active military aircraft: 1,004 (1.88% of global fleet)
> Defense expenditure (2022) $53.6 billion (2.39% of global military expenditure)
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8. Japan
> Global Firepower PowerIndex score: 0.1711
> Armed forces personnel: 309,000 (0.2% of population)
> Active military aircraft: 1,451 (2.72% of global fleet)
> Defense expenditure (2022) $46.0 billion (2.05% of global military expenditure)
7. Pakistan
> Global Firepower PowerIndex score: 0.1694
> Armed forces personnel: 1.70 million (0.7% of population)
> Active military aircraft: 1,413 (2.65% of global fleet)
> Defense expenditure (2022) $10.3 billion (0.46% of global military expenditure)
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6. South Korea
> Global Firepower PowerIndex score: 0.1505
> Armed forces personnel: 1.13 million (2.2% of population)
> Active military aircraft: 1,602 (3.01% of global fleet)
> Defense expenditure (2022) $46.4 billion (2.07% of global military expenditure)
5. United Kingdom
> Global Firepower PowerIndex score: 0.1435
> Armed forces personnel: 231,000 (0.3% of population)
> Active military aircraft: 663 (1.24% of global fleet)
> Defense expenditure (2022) $68.5 billion (3.06% of global military expenditure)
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4. India
> Global Firepower PowerIndex score: 0.1025
> Armed forces personnel: 5.13 million (0.4% of population)
> Active military aircraft: 2,210 (4.15% of global fleet)
> Defense expenditure (2022) $81.4 billion (3.63% of global military expenditure)
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3. China
> Global Firepower PowerIndex score: 0.0722
> Armed forces personnel: 3.13 million (0.2% of population)
> Active military aircraft: 3,166 (5.94% of global fleet)
> Defense expenditure (2022) $292.0 billion (13.03% of global military expenditure)
2. Russia
> Global Firepower PowerIndex score: 0.0714
> Armed forces personnel: 1.33 million (0.9% of population)
> Active military aircraft: 4,182 (7.85% of global fleet)
> Defense expenditure (2022) $86.4 billion (3.86% of global military expenditure)
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1. United States
> Global Firepower PowerIndex score: 0.0712
> Armed forces personnel: 1.83 million (0.5% of population)
> Active military aircraft: 13,300 (24.97% of global fleet)
> Defense expenditure (2022) $876.9 billion (39.15% of global military expenditure)
Methodology
To determine the 20 countries with the strongest military might, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed 2023 Military Strength Ranking from Global Firepower, an annually updated defense-related statistics website with information on 145 countries. Global Firepower ranked 145 countries based on their PowerIndex, a composite of over 60 measures in categories such as military might, financials, logistical capability, and geography. The smaller the PowerIndex value the more powerful a nation’s theoretical conventional fighting capability is.
Supplemental data on armed forces personnel and its percent of the population also came from Global Firepower. Data on the number of active military aircraft for 2023 came from FlightGlobal, an aviation and aerospace industry website. Military expenditure data for 2022 came from Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
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