Top 20 most powerful armies in the world 2024

In today’s unstable international climate, it’s important to consider the world’s most powerful armies. This has been the job of the annual Global firepower report, providing an analytical visualization of data relating to 140 modern military powers since 2006.

The war in Ukraine has been joined by that in the Middle East, where the United States has also intervened directly against the Houthi Rebels, while China and North Korea continue to issue not-so-veiled threats against Taiwan and South Korea respectively.

The possibility of a third world war is becoming increasingly higher. A real arms race is underway, especially in some countries. Indeed, there are no major changes in the top part of the ranking where we find the United States, Russia, China, and India.

But let’s go into detail by analyzing the most relevant positions in the ranking, focusing on those countries that currently are or potentially could be involved in a conflict.

How to measure the strength of an army

For its survey, Global Firepower takes into account several factors, such as weapon supplies, strategic geographic location, overall population and natural resources.

It might seem strange that factors such as population are taken into consideration to establish strongest armies in the world. Global Firepower, however, starts from the assumption that the greater the population, the higher the production of armaments will be in the event of a possible conflict.

Furthermore, bonuses are assigned to armies belonging to NATO, or even to the recognized atomic powers.

In total, 55 parameters are used. Based on these, a coefficient called PoweIndex is assigned to each army, indicating the overall military value. Thanks to the coefficient, it is possible for smaller - but more technologically advanced - countries to compete.

The combination of all the factors examined results in a perfect score of 0.0000, a realistically unattainable PoweIndex. The closer a country is to absolute zero, the greater the military strength.

As anticipated, the United States is the closest to this ambitious result. Let’s check the complete ranking to understand which states have efficient armies.

Top 20 most powerful armies in the world 2024

In the first position, we find the United States (index 0.0699), with a slightly upward trend compared to last year. In particular, the United States can boast:

• military personnel: 2,127,500;
• airpower: 13,209;
• naval forces: 472;
• tanks: 4,657;
• defense budget: $831,781,000,000

Followed by Russia (0.0702), which can boast the following result:

• military personnel: 3,570,000;
• airpower: 4,255;
• naval forces: 781;
• tanks: 14,777;
• defense budget: $109,000,000,000

In third position is China (0.0706) with an astonishing 3,170,000 units of military personnel. However, the country underperforms compared to the US in terms of military arsenal: 3,304 aircraft as air power, 730 units of naval power, and 5,000 tanks. All with a budget of $227,000,000,000.

Completing the top ten positions:

• 4) India (0.1023);
• 5) South Korea, up one position (0.1416);
• 6) United Kingdom, down one position (0.1443);
• 7) Japan, up one position (0.1601);
• 8) Türkiye, up three positions (0.1697);
• 9) Pakistan, down two positions (0.1719);
• 10) Italy (0.1863)

Italy therefore maintains the position "conquered" in 2023, thanks to a defense budget of $31,600,000,000. All this compared to 289,000 soldiers, 800 flight units, 200 tanks, and 309 units for the naval fleet. Numbers that pale in comparison to those of the great world powers.

Below Italy other European countries such as France (11th), Germany (19th) Spain (20th), while Ukraine, after more than two years of war which led to an economic effort on the war front, dropped from 15th to 18th position.

Let us therefore complete the top twenty positions in the ranking of the most powerful armies in the world:

• 11) France;
• 12) Brazil;
• 13) Indonesia;
• 14) Iran;
• 15) Egypt;
• 16) Australia;
• 17) Israel;
• 18) Ukraine;
• 19) Germany;
• 20) Spain.

Of particular note is the growth of Iran, which rose three positions, demonstrating that escalation in the Middle East is a real risk. Always remaining on the front of potential clashes, North Korea is still very strong (albeit losing positions) and ranks 36th; Taiwan is stable in 24th position.

In the last three positions - from 148th to 150th place - however, we find three small countries: Suriname, Moldova and Buthan. The latter, for example, has just 7,500 soldiers, 2 planes, zero ships and no tanks. But then again the defense budget is just $25,000,000.

For the complete report, you can consult the official website.

Original article published on Money.it Italy 2024-02-05 16:05:11. Original title: Eserciti più forti e potenti al mondo 2024, dove si trova l’Italia?