As of May 2025, China had the largest armed forces in the world by active duty military personnel, with about *********** active soldiers. India, the United States, North Korea, and Russia rounded out the top five largest armies. Difference between active and reserve personnel Active personnel, also known as active duty in the United States and active service in the United Kingdom, are those individuals whose full-time occupation is being part of a military force. Active duty contrasts with a military’s reserve force, which are individuals who have both a military role and a civilian career. The number of active duty forces in the U.S. is much larger than its reserve membership. What is the strongest army? The strength of a country’s armed forces is not only determined by how many personnel they maintain, but also the number and quality of their military equipment. For example, looking only at personnel does not factor in the overwhelmingly higher number of nuclear warheads owned by Russia and the United States compared to other countries. One way to answer this question is to look at the total amount of money each country spends on their military, as spending includes both personnel and technology. In terms of countries with the highest military spending, the United States leads the world with an annual budget almost ***** times larger than second-placed China.

In 2023, China's military, the People's Liberation Army (PLA), had around ***** million active-duty military personnel. Together with reserve military and paramilitary groups it had a total force of around ***** million people.

In 2024, China had an estimated active military personnel of more than two million, followed by India with an estimated number of 1.45 million soldiers. Comparatively, Bhutan had an estimated military personnel strength of 7.5 thousand in 2024.

China Military Expenditure data was reported at 228.231 USD bn in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 216.031 USD bn for 2016. China Military Expenditure data is updated yearly, averaging 35.126 USD bn from Dec 1989 (Median) to 2017, with 29 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 228.231 USD bn in 2017 and a record low of 9.954 USD bn in 1991. China Military Expenditure data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s China – Table CN.World Bank: Defense and Official Development Assistance. Military expenditures data from SIPRI are derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces; defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects; paramilitary forces, if these are judged to be trained and equipped for military operations; and military space activities. Such expenditures include military and civil personnel, including retirement pensions of military personnel and social services for personnel; operation and maintenance; procurement; military research and development; and military aid (in the military expenditures of the donor country). Excluded are civil defense and current expenditures for previous military activities, such as for veterans' benefits, demobilization, conversion, and destruction of weapons. This definition cannot be applied for all countries, however, since that would require much more detailed information than is available about what is included in military budgets and off-budget military expenditure items. (For example, military budgets might or might not cover civil defense, reserves and auxiliary forces, police and paramilitary forces, dual-purpose forces such as military and civilian police, military grants in kind, pensions for military personnel, and social security contributions paid by one part of government to another).; ; Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Yearbook: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security.; Weighted average; Data for some countries are based on partial or uncertain data or rough estimates. For additional details please refer to the military expenditure database on the SIPRI website: https://sipri.org/databases/milex

The graph shows the number of members of the Chinese army from 2010 to 2020. In 2020, around 2.54 million soldiers were enlisted in China.

This dataset is about countries per year in China. It has 64 rows. It features 4 columns: country, armed forces personnel, and population.

China Military Expenditure as % of General Government Expenditure data was reported at 6.102 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 6.034 % for 2016. China Military Expenditure as % of General Government Expenditure data is updated yearly, averaging 11.630 % from Dec 1989 (Median) to 2017, with 29 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 17.110 % in 1992 and a record low of 6.034 % in 2016. China Military Expenditure as % of General Government Expenditure data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s China – Table CN.World Bank.WDI: Defense and Official Development Assistance. Military expenditures data from SIPRI are derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces; defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects; paramilitary forces, if these are judged to be trained and equipped for military operations; and military space activities. Such expenditures include military and civil personnel, including retirement pensions of military personnel and social services for personnel; operation and maintenance; procurement; military research and development; and military aid (in the military expenditures of the donor country). Excluded are civil defense and current expenditures for previous military activities, such as for veterans' benefits, demobilization, conversion, and destruction of weapons. This definition cannot be applied for all countries, however, since that would require much more detailed information than is available about what is included in military budgets and off-budget military expenditure items. (For example, military budgets might or might not cover civil defense, reserves and auxiliary forces, police and paramilitary forces, dual-purpose forces such as military and civilian police, military grants in kind, pensions for military personnel, and social security contributions paid by one part of government to another.); ; Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Yearbook: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security.; Weighted average; Data for some countries are based on partial or uncertain data or rough estimates.

Armed forces personnel (% of total labor force) in China was reported at 0.33188 % in 2020, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. China - Armed forces personnel - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on April of 2025.

This line chart displays armed forces personnel (people) by date using the aggregation sum and is filtered where the country is China. The data is about countries per year.

This dataset is about countries, has 1 rows. and is filtered where the country includes China. It features 5 columns: country, currency, capital city, continent, and armed forces personnel. The preview is ordered by population (descending).

Armed forces personnel, total in China was reported at 2535000 in 2020, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. China - Armed forces personnel, total - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on April of 2025.

Abstract (en): The China Multi-Generational Panel Dataset - Liaoning (CMGPD-LN) is drawn from the population registers compiled by the Imperial Household Agency (neiwufu) in Shengjing, currently the northeast Chinese province of Liaoning, between 1749 and 1909. It provides 1.5 million triennial observations of more than 260,000 residents from 698 communities. The population mainly consists of immigrants from North China who settled in rural Liaoning during the early eighteenth century, and their descendants. The data provide socioeconomic, demographic, and other characteristics for individuals, households, and communities, and record demographic outcomes such as marriage, fertility, and mortality. The data also record specific disabilities for a subset of adult males. Additionally, the collection includes monthly and annual grain price data, custom records for the city of Yingkou, as well as information regarding natural disasters, such as floods, droughts, and earthquakes. This dataset is unique among publicly available population databases because of its time span, volume, detail, and completeness of recording, and because it provides longitudinal data not just on individuals, but on their households, descent groups, and communities. Possible applications of the dataset include the study of relationships between demographic behavior, family organization, and socioeconomic status across the life course and across generations, the influence of region and community on demographic outcomes, and development and assessment of quantitative methods for the analysis of complex longitudinal datasets. ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection: Created variable labels and/or value labels.; Standardized missing values.; Created online analysis version with question text.; Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.. Smallest Geographic Unit: Chinese banners (8) The data are from 725 surviving triennial registers from 29 distinct populations. Each of the 29 register series corresponded to a specific rural population concentrated in a small number of neighboring villages. These populations were affiliated with the Eight Banner civil and military administration that the Qing state used to govern northeast China as well as some other parts of the country. 16 of the 29 populations are regular bannermen. In these populations adult males had generous allocations of land from the state, and in return paid an annual fixed tax to the Imperial Household Agency, and provided to the Imperial Household Agency such home products as homespun fabric and preserved meat, and/or such forest products as mushrooms. In addition, as regular bannermen they were liable for military service as artisans and soldiers which, while in theory an obligation, was actually an important source of personal revenue and therefore a political privilege. 8 of the 29 populations are special duty banner populations. As in the regular banner population, the adult males in the special duty banner populations also enjoyed state allocated land free of rent. These adult males were also assigned to provide special services, including collecting honey, raising bees, fishing, picking cotton, and tanning and dyeing. The remaining populations were a diverse mixture of estate banner and servile populations. The populations covered by the registers, like much of the population of rural Liaoning in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, were mostly descendants of Han Chinese settlers who came from Shandong and other nearby provinces in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries in response to an effort by the Chinese state to repopulate the region. 2016-09-06 2016-09-06 The Training Guide has been updated to version 3.60. Additionally, the Principal Investigator affiliation has been corrected, and cover sheets for all PDF documents have been revised.2014-07-10 Releasing new study level documentation that contains the tables found in the appendix of the Analytic dataset codebook.2014-06-10 The data and documentation have been updated following re-evaluation.2014-01-29 Fixing variable format issues. Some variables that were supposed to be s...

Opinion on questions concerning security policy. East-West comparison.

Topics: Satisfaction with the standard of living; attitude to France, Great Britain, Italy, USA, USSR, Red China and West Germany; preferred East-West-orientation of one´s own country and correspondence of national interests with the interests of selected countries; judgement on the American, Soviet and Red Chinese peace efforts; judgement on the foreign policy of the USA and the USSR; trust in the foreign policy capabilities of the USA; the most powerful country in the world, currently and in the future; comparison of the USA with the USSR concerning economic and military strength, nuclear weapons and the areas of culture, science, space research, education as well as the economic prospects for the average citizen; significance of a landing on the moon; Soviet citizen or American as first on the moon; assumed significance of space research for military development; attitude to a united Europe and Great Britain´s joining the Common Market; preferred relation of a united Europe to the United States; fair share of the pleasant things of life; lack of effort or fate as reasons for poverty; general contentment with life; perceived growth rate of the country´s population and preference for population growth; attitude to the growth of the population of the world; preferred measures against over-population; attitude to a birth control program in the developing countries and in one´s own country; present politician idols in Europe and in the rest of the world; attitude to disarmament; trust in the alliance partners; degree of familiarity with the NATO and assessment of its present strength; attitude to a European nuclear force; desired and estimated loyalty of the Americans to the NATO alliance partners; evaluation of the development of the UN; equal voice for all members of the UN; desired distribution of the UN financial burdens; attitude to an acceptance of Red China in the United Nations; knowledge about battles in Vietnam; attitude to the Vietnam war; attitude to the behavior of America, Red China and the Soviet Union in this conflict; attitude to the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam and preferred attitude of one´s own country in this conflict and in case of a conflict with Red China; opinion on the treatment of colored people in Great Britain, America and the Soviet Union; judgement on the American Federal Government and on the American population regarding the equality of Negros; degree of familiarity with the Chinese nuclear tests; effects of this test on the military strength of Red China; attitude to American private investments in the Federal Republic; the most influential groups and organizations in the country; party preference; religiousness.

Interviewer rating: social class of respondent.

Additionally encoded were: number of contact attempts; date of interview.

1,9 (%) in 2021. Military expenditures data from SIPRI are derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces; defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects; paramilitary forces, if these are judged to be trained and equipped for military operations; and military space activities. Such expenditures include military and civil personnel, including retirement pensions of military personnel and social services for personnel; operation and maintenance; procurement; military research and development; and military aid (in the military expenditures of the donor country). Excluded are civil defense and current expenditures for previous military activities, such as for veterans' benefits, demobilization, conversion, and destruction of weapons. This definition cannot be applied for all countries, however, since that would require much more detailed information than is available about what is included in military budgets and off-budget military expenditure items. (For example, military budgets might or might not cover civil defense, reserves and auxiliary forces, police and paramilitary forces, dual-purpose forces such as military and civilian police, military grants in kind, pensions for military personnel, and social security contributions paid by one part of government to another.)

Abstract (en): The China Multi-Generational Panel Dataset - Liaoning (CMGPD-LN) is drawn from the population registers compiled by the Imperial Household Agency (neiwufu) in Shengjing, currently the northeast Chinese province of Liaoning, between 1749 and 1909. It provides 1.5 million triennial observations of more than 260,000 residents from 698 communities. The population mainly consists of immigrants from North China who settled in rural Liaoning during the early eighteenth century, and their descendants. The data provide socioeconomic, demographic, and other characteristics for individuals, households, and communities, and record demographic outcomes such as marriage, fertility, and mortality. The data also record specific disabilities for a subset of adult males. Additionally, the collection includes monthly and annual grain price data, custom records for the city of Yingkou, as well as information regarding natural disasters, such as floods, droughts, and earthquakes. This dataset is unique among publicly available population databases because of its time span, volume, detail, and completeness of recording, and because it provides longitudinal data not just on individuals, but on their households, descent groups, and communities. Possible applications of the dataset include the study of relationships between demographic behavior, family organization, and socioeconomic status across the life course and across generations, the influence of region and community on demographic outcomes, and development and assessment of quantitative methods for the analysis of complex longitudinal datasets. ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection: Created variable labels and/or value labels.; Standardized missing values.; Created online analysis version with question text.; Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.. Smallest Geographic Unit: Chinese banners (8) The data are from 725 surviving triennial registers from 29 distinct populations. Each of the 29 register series corresponded to a specific rural population concentrated in a small number of neighboring villages. These populations were affiliated with the Eight Banner civil and military administration that the Qing state used to govern northeast China as well as some other parts of the country. 16 of the 29 populations are regular bannermen. In these populations adult males had generous allocations of land from the state, and in return paid an annual fixed tax to the Imperial Household Agency, and provided to the Imperial Household Agency such home products as homespun fabric and preserved meat, and/or such forest products as mushrooms. In addition, as regular bannermen they were liable for military service as artisans and soldiers which, while in theory an obligation, was actually an important source of personal revenue and therefore a political privilege. 8 of the 29 populations are special duty banner populations. As in the regular banner population, the adult males in the special duty banner populations also enjoyed state allocated land free of rent. These adult males were also assigned to provide special services, including collecting honey, raising bees, fishing, picking cotton, and tanning and dyeing. The remaining populations were a diverse mixture of estate banner and servile populations. The populations covered by the registers, like much of the population of rural Liaoning in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, were mostly descendants of Han Chinese settlers who came from Shandong and other nearby provinces in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries in response to an effort by the Chinese state to repopulate the region. 2016-09-06 2016-09-06 The Training Guide has been updated to version 3.60. Additionally, the Principal Investigator affiliation has been corrected, and cover sheets for all PDF documents have been revised.2014-07-10 Releasing new study level documentation that contains the tables found in the appendix of the Analytic dataset codebook.2014-06-10 The data and documentation have been updated following re-evaluation.2014-01-29 Fixing variable format issues. Some variables that were supposed to be s...

In 2023, China's total expenditure on military services was estimated at 207.9 U.S. dollars per capita of the population. This was equivalent to a total spending on the military of 296.4 billion U.S. dollars. Total military spending was estimated to be significantly higher than the official national defense budget.

This dataset is about countries per year in China and has 64 rows.. It features 5 columns: capital city, agricultural land, alternative and nuclear energy, armed forces personnel, and birth rate. The preview is ordered by date (descending).

The Asia-Pacific Armored Fighting Vehicles (AFV) market, valued at $5.37 billion in 2025, is projected to experience robust growth, driven by escalating geopolitical tensions, modernization of armed forces, and increasing defense budgets across the region. The market's Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.13% from 2025 to 2033 indicates a significant expansion, with the market size expected to surpass $8 billion by 2033. Key drivers include the growing need for enhanced military capabilities to counter regional security threats, the ongoing modernization of existing fleets with advanced technologies like improved fire control systems and enhanced protection, and the rising demand for specialized AFVs tailored to specific operational requirements. Furthermore, technological advancements in areas such as hybrid propulsion systems and active protection systems are further fueling market expansion. India and China, representing major markets within the region, are anticipated to significantly contribute to the overall market growth due to their substantial defense spending and ongoing military modernization programs. While the market faces some constraints such as high procurement costs and technological complexities, the strategic importance of AFVs in maintaining regional stability is expected to outweigh these challenges, ensuring sustained market growth throughout the forecast period. The segmentation within the Asia-Pacific AFV market reveals significant opportunities across various vehicle types and geographical locations. Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs) and Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs) currently dominate the market due to their versatility and widespread application across various military operations. However, the demand for Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) is also expected to increase steadily, driven by the need for superior firepower and protection in potential conflicts. China, India, South Korea, and Japan are the leading markets in the Asia-Pacific region, characterized by large and modernizing defense forces. This market landscape sees fierce competition amongst major global players like General Dynamics, Rheinmetall, BAE Systems, and Hanwha Defense, alongside significant regional players like Mahindra Emirates and Tata Motors. Their focus on technological innovation, strategic partnerships, and adapting to specific regional needs will ultimately define their market share and success in this dynamic environment. This comprehensive report provides a detailed analysis of the Asia-Pacific Armored Fighting Vehicles (AFV) market, encompassing historical data (2019-2024), current estimates (2025), and future projections (2025-2033). It offers invaluable insights into market dynamics, key players, and emerging trends, making it an essential resource for industry stakeholders, investors, and researchers. The report meticulously examines various AFV types, including Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs), Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs), Main Battle Tanks (MBTs), and other specialized vehicles, across major Asia-Pacific nations like China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and Singapore. This in-depth analysis considers the impact of geopolitical factors, technological advancements, and evolving defense budgets on market growth, ultimately providing a robust forecast for the next decade. Recent developments include: June 2023: South Korea announced the mass production of additional K2 Black Panther main battle tanks for an estimated USD 1.46 billion., December 2022: Japan selected Patria-built armored modular vehicles (AMV) to replace the Type-96 8X8 wheeled armored personnel carriers of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force.. Notable trends are: Main Battle Tank Segment is Expected to Lead the Market during the Forecast Period.

How many soldiers does Russia have? The Russian Armed Forces had 3.57 million troops as of 2025, with 37 percent of them, or 1.32 million, being active military personnel. Two million were reserve service members, and 250,000 were paramilitary forces. The number of people in the Russian military was increased twice after the invasion of Ukraine; the respective presidential decrees came into force in January and December 2023. Largest armies worldwide The Russian Army had the fourth-largest available active military manpower in 2025, having shared that rank with North Korea. The militaries of China, India, and the United States had more active soldiers. In terms of defense spending, Russia ranked third after the U.S. and China. Military personnel of Ukraine and NATO Russia’s active troops outnumbered Ukraine’s by 420,000 as of 2025. Furthermore, reserve and paramilitary forces of Russia were higher. When comparing Russia’s active military personnel to that of the countries in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), it was roughly 2.6 times smaller. In total, NATO members were estimated to over 3.4 million troops, including active, reserve, and paramilitary units. The U.S., Turkey, and Poland have the largest armies in NATO.

This dataset is about countries per year, has 64 rows. and is filtered where the country includes China. It features 5 columns: agricultural land, alternative and nuclear energy, carbon dioxide emissions (CO2), armed forces personnel, and birth rate. The preview is ordered by date (descending).