Sweden’s recent addition to NATO has brought into question many concerns about military strength within the European continent. However, military strength is not necessarily a requirement to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. There are a few countries that fill out the ranks that add very little in terms of military forces, comparatively speaking, to the overall alliance. There are a handful of militaries across Europe that can muster over half a million troops each, if need be, but a large portion of NATO forces come from the United States.
For one, Iceland was a founding member of NATO but it does not have a standing military, navy or air force. Instead, this small frozen nation relies on the collective defense agreement within the NATO Alliance should there be any need. However, Iceland does provide aid in other forms like hosting military units from other nations in its strategic position in the North Atlantic Ocean. (These are the NATO countries not paying their fair share.)
Practically all nations within NATO have a standing army, and these can vary wildly based on a few factors. The United Kingdom, Poland and France were very much participants in World War II and each sees fit to have a standing force ready at a moment’s notice. Other countries like Turkey are closer to conflict zones and need a force ready to defend their borders.
Each of these nations can be measured by the number of active troops, and their military strength directly corresponds with this and a number of other factors including naval strength and air power. (These are the greatest armies ever assembled on Earth.)
To identify the NATO countries with the most military 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 personnel. We included supplemental information regarding active personnel, reserves, total population, fit-for-service, paramilitary forces, and overall military strength score.
Here is a look at the NATO members with the most military manpower:
32. Iceland
- Total military personnel: 0
- Active personnel: 0
- Reserves: 0
- Paramilitary forces: 0
- Total population: 360,872
- Fit-for-service: 49,800
- Military strength score: 3.5038 – #136 out of 145
31. Luxembourg
- Total military personnel: 1,000
- Active personnel: 1,000
- Reserves: 0
- Paramilitary forces: 0
- Total population: 660,924
- Fit-for-service: 91,208
- Military strength score: 2.1458 – #109 out of 145
30. Montenegro
- Total military personnel: 7,850
- Active personnel: 2,350
- Reserves: 0
- Paramilitary forces: 5,500
- Total population: 602,445
- Fit-for-service: 85,547
- Military strength score: 2.9109 – #129 out of 145
29. Albania
- Total military personnel: 9,100
- Active personnel: 6,600
- Reserves: 2,000
- Paramilitary forces: 500
- Total population: 3,101,621
- Fit-for-service: 1,290,274
- Military strength score: 1.8188 – #90 out of 145
28. Slovakia
- Total military personnel: 19,500
- Active personnel: 19,500
- Reserves: 0
- Paramilitary forces: 0
- Total population: 5,425,319
- Fit-for-service: 2,294,910
- Military strength score: 1.1891 – #69 out of 145
27. Belgium
- Total military personnel: 31,400
- Active personnel: 25,000
- Reserves: 6,400
- Paramilitary forces: 0
- Total population: 11,913,633
- Fit-for-service: 3,860,017
- Military strength score: 1.2064 – #70 out of 145
26. Czechia
- Total military personnel: 32,200
- Active personnel: 28,000
- Reserves: 4,200
- Paramilitary forces: 0
- Total population: 10,706,242
- Fit-for-service: 4,079,078
- Military strength score: 0.7706 – #46 out of 145
25. Croatia
- Total military personnel: 36,425
- Active personnel: 14,325
- Reserves: 20,100
- Paramilitary forces: 2,000
- Total population: 4,169,239
- Fit-for-service: 1,571,803
- Military strength score: 1.1333 – #66 out of 145
24. Slovenia
- Total military personnel: 38,300
- Active personnel: 7,300
- Reserves: 26,000
- Paramilitary forces: 5,000
- Total population: 2,099,790
- Fit-for-service: 827,317
- Military strength score: 1.8286 – #91 out of 145
23. Bulgaria
- Total military personnel: 40,000
- Active personnel: 37,000
- Reserves: 3,000
- Paramilitary forces: 0
- Total population: 6,827,736
- Fit-for-service: 2,628,678
- Military strength score: 1.0132 – #62 out of 145
22. Netherlands
- Total military personnel: 53,145
- Active personnel: 41,380
- Reserves: 6,765
- Paramilitary forces: 5,000
- Total population: 17,463,930
- Fit-for-service: 6,374,334
- Military strength score: 0.5644 – #40 out of 145
21. Norway
- Total military personnel: 63,250
- Active personnel: 23,250
- Reserves: 0
- Paramilitary forces: 40,000
- Total population: 5,597,924
- Fit-for-service: 1,836,119
- Military strength score: 0.5664 – #41 out of 145
20. Latvia
- Total military personnel: 65,750
- Active personnel: 17,250
- Reserves: 36,000
- Paramilitary forces: 12,500
- Total population: 1,821,750
- Fit-for-service: 655,830
- Military strength score: 1.9911 – #99 out of 145
19. North Macedonia
- Total military personnel: 72,500
- Active personnel: 9,000
- Reserves: 60,000
- Paramilitary forces: 3,500
- Total population: 2,133,410
- Fit-for-service: 782,961
- Military strength score: 2.1717 – #110 out of 145
18. Hungary
- Total military personnel: 76,600
- Active personnel: 41,600
- Reserves: 20,000
- Paramilitary forces: 15,000
- Total population: 9,670,009
- Fit-for-service: 3,722,953
- Military strength score: 0.8478 – #54 out of 145
17. Sweden
- Total military personnel: 82,300
- Active personnel: 24,400
- Reserves: 32,900
- Paramilitary forces: 25,000
- Total population: 10,536,338
- Fit-for-service: 3,540,210
- Military strength score: 0.4009 – #29 out of 145
16. Denmark
- Total military personnel: 83,000
- Active personnel: 20,000
- Reserves: 12,000
- Paramilitary forces: 51,000
- Total population: 5,946,984
- Fit-for-service: 2,117,126
- Military strength score: 0.7743 – #48 out of 145
15. Estonia
- Total military personnel: 96,500
- Active personnel: 7,700
- Reserves: 78,800
- Paramilitary forces: 10,000
- Total population: 1,202,762
- Fit-for-service: 459,455
- Military strength score: 1.7237 – #87 out of 145
14. Canada
- Total military personnel: 100,500
- Active personnel: 68,000
- Reserves: 27,000
- Paramilitary forces: 5,500
- Total population: 38,516,736
- Fit-for-service: 13,403,824
- Military strength score: 0.3813 – #27 out of 145
13. Lithuania
- Total military personnel: 141,150
- Active personnel: 23,000
- Reserves: 104,000
- Paramilitary forces: 14,150
- Total population: 2,655,755
- Fit-for-service: 1,346,468
- Military strength score: 1.7395 – #88 out of 145
12. Romania
- Total military personnel: 151,300
- Active personnel: 81,300
- Reserves: 55,000
- Paramilitary forces: 15,000
- Total population: 18,326,327
- Fit-for-service: 7,807,015
- Military strength score: 0.7712 – #47 out of 145
11. Germany
- Total military personnel: 215,600
- Active personnel: 181,600
- Reserves: 34,000
- Paramilitary forces: 0
- Total population: 84,220,184
- Fit-for-service: 30,993,028
- Military strength score: 0.2847 – #19 out of 145
10. Spain
- Total military personnel: 226,902
- Active personnel: 133,282
- Reserves: 15,150
- Paramilitary forces: 78,470
- Total population: 47,222,613
- Fit-for-service: 17,614,035
- Military strength score: 0.2882 – #20 out of 145
9. Portugal
- Total military personnel: 260,400
- Active personnel: 24,000
- Reserves: 211,700
- Paramilitary forces: 24,700
- Total population: 10,467,366
- Fit-for-service: 4,029,936
- Military strength score: 0.5609 – #38 out of 145
8. Italy
- Total military personnel: 289,000
- Active personnel: 165,500
- Reserves: 18,500
- Paramilitary forces: 105,000
- Total population: 61,021,855
- Fit-for-service: 22,211,955
- Military strength score: 0.1863 – #10 out of 145
7. France
- Total military personnel: 376,000
- Active personnel: 200,000
- Reserves: 26,000
- Paramilitary forces: 150,000
- Total population: 68,521,974
- Fit-for-service: 23,845,647
- Military strength score: 0.1878 – #11 out of 145
6. Greece
- Total military personnel: 419,050
- Active personnel: 142,700
- Reserves: 221,350
- Paramilitary forces: 55,000
- Total population: 10,497,595
- Fit-for-service: 3,999,584
- Military strength score: 0.4349 – #32 out of 145
5. Poland
- Total military personnel: 602,100
- Active personnel: 202,100
- Reserves: 350,000
- Paramilitary forces: 50,000
- Total population: 37,991,766
- Fit-for-service: 15,272,690
- Military strength score: 0.2917 – #21 out of 145
4. Turkey
- Total military personnel: 883,900
- Active personnel: 355,200
- Reserves: 378,700
- Paramilitary forces: 150,000
- Total population: 83,593,483
- Fit-for-service: 3,561,604
- Military strength score: 0.1697 – #8 out of 145
3. Finland
- Total military personnel: 947,800
- Active personnel: 24,000
- Reserves: 870,000
- Paramilitary forces: 53,800
- Total population: 5,614,571
- Fit-for-service: 1,908,954
- Military strength score: 0.7967 – #50 out of 145
2. United Kingdom
- Total military personnel: 1,108,860
- Active personnel: 184,860
- Reserves: 924,000
- Paramilitary forces: 0
- Total population: 68,138,484
- Fit-for-service: 25,074,962
- Military strength score: 0.1443 – #6 out of 145
1. United States
- Total military personnel: 2,127,500
- Active personnel: 1,328,000
- Reserves: 799,500
- Paramilitary forces: 0
- Total population: 339,665,118
- Fit-for-service: 123,977,768
- Military strength score: 0.0699 – #1 out of 145
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