Australia vs United States

Australia vs United States: Armed forces personnel

Armed forces personnel in 2020: 60,000 people in Australia and 1.4 million people in United States, by IISS estimates. In 2020 the value was higher in United States, by 1.34 million people, or 23 times that in Australia.

Watch it change on the map

people · IISS

Australia vs United States: Armed forces personnelArmed forces personnel in 2020: 60,000 people in Australia and 1.4 million people in United States, by IISS estimates. In 2020 the value was higher in United States, by 1.34 million people, or 23 times that in Australia.
AustraliaUnited StatesEstimates, Correlates of WarWorld

What the numbers say

  • United States has been higher in every year both have figures for since 1985.
  • In 2020, Australia ranked 64 and United States ranked 5 of 170 countries, counting from the highest.
  • The world as a whole: 27.4 million people in 2020.

Every year

people · IISS

YearAustraliaUnited StatesWorld
202060,0001.4 million27.4 million
201959,0001.39 million27.7 million
201858,1001.38 million27.7 million
201758,0001.36 million27.4 million
201657,8001.35 million27.5 million
201557,8001.35 million27.4 million
201456,7501.38 million27.3 million
201356,7501.43 million27.2 million
201256,2001.49 million28.2 million
201157,0501.52 million28 million
201056,5501.57 million28.1 million
200956,5501.56 million27.9 million
200855,0001.54 million27.5 million
200755,0001.56 million27.3 million
200651,0001.5 million27 million
200553,0001.55 million28.5 million
200452,0001.47 million27.1 million
200353,6001.48 million28.2 million
200250,9001.47 million28.3 million
200151,7001.42 million28.2 million
200051,6001.46 million29.4 million
199956,2001.58 million29.6 million
199858,4001.59 million29.9 million
199758,4001.53 million29.9 million
199658,8001.57 million30.2 million
199557,1001.64 million30.2 million
199465,0001.72 million23.2 million
199368,0001.82 million23.7 million
199268,0001.92 million24.5 million
199168,0002.12 million22.7 million
199068,0002.18 million23.9 million
198970,0002.24 million24.3 million
198570,4002.15 million22.2 million
198471,0002.22 million–
198373,0002.2 million–
198273,0002.17 million–
198172,0002.1 million–
198071,0002.05 million–
197970,0002.03 million–
197870,0002.06 million–
197770,0002.06 million–
197671,0002.08 million–
197570,0002.1 million–
197468,0002.15 million–
197371,0002.21 million–
197286,0002.32 million–
197186,0002.72 million–
197086,0003.07 million–
196982,0003.46 million–
196880,0003.55 million–
196772,0003.38 million–
196659,0003.09 million–
196553,0002.66 million–
196453,0002.69 million–
196349,0002.7 million–
196249,0002.81 million–
196146,0002.31 million–
196047,0002.31 million–
195948,0002.33 million–
195846,0002.41 million–
195748,0002.8 million–
195652,0002.81 million–
195552,0002.94 million–
195454,0003.3 million–
195357,0003.56 million–
195232,0003.64 million–
195133,0003.25 million–
195038,0001.46 million–
194941,0001.62 million–
194861,0001.45 million–
194782,0001.58 million–
1946103,0003.03 million–
1945596,00012.1 million–
1944680,00011.5 million–
1943680,0009.05 million–
1942–3.86 million–
1941400,0001.8 million–
194082,000458,000–
19398,000334,000–
19388,000323,000–
19378,000312,000–
19368,000291,000–
19358,000252,000–
19348,000247,000–
19336,000244,000–
19326,000245,000–
19316,000253,000–
19307,000256,000–
19297,000255,000–
19288,000251,000–
19278,000249,000–
19268,000247,000–
19257,000252,000–
19247,000261,000–
19237,000247,000–
19226,000270,000–
19216,000387,000–
19206,000343,000–
1919–1.17 million–
1918–2.9 million–
1917–644,000–
1916–179,000–
1915–174,000–
1914–166,000–
1913–155,000–
1912–153,000–
1911–145,000–
1910–139,000–
1909–142,000–
1908–129,000–
1907–108,000–
1906–112,000–
1905–108,000–
1904–110,000–
1903–106,000–
1902–111,000–
1901–112,000–
1900–126,000–
1899–100,000–
1898–236,000–
1897–44,000–
1896–42,000–
1895–42,000–
1894–42,000–
1893–39,000–
1892–39,000–
1891–38,000–
1890–39,000–
1889–39,000–
1888–39,000–
1887–39,000–
1886–39,000–
1885–39,000–
1884–39,000–
1883–37,000–
1882–38,000–
1881–38,000–
1880–38,000–
1879–38,000–
1878–36,000–
1877–34,000–
1876–41,000–
1875–38,000–
1874–44,000–
1873–43,000–
1872–42,000–
1871–42,000–
1870–50,000–
1869–52,000–
1868–66,000–
1867–75,000–
1866–77,000–
1865–1.06 million–
1864–1.03 million–
1863–960,000–
1862–673,000–
1861–217,000–
1860–28,000–
1859–29,000–
1858–29,000–
1857–27,000–
1856–26,000–
1855–26,000–
1854–21,000–
1853–21,000–
1852–21,000–
1851–21,000–
1850–21,000–
1849–23,000–
1848–60,000–
1847–58,000–
1846–39,000–
1845–21,000–
1844–21,000–
1843–21,000–
1842–23,000–
1841–21,000–
1840–22,000–
1839–19,000–
1838–18,000–
1837–22,000–
1836–17,000–
1835–14,000–
1834–13,000–
1833–13,000–
1832–12,000–
1831–11,000–
1830–12,000–
1829–12,000–
1828–11,000–
1827–12,000–
1826–12,000–
1825–11,000–
1824–11,000–
1823–11,000–
1822–10,000–
1821–11,000–
1820–15,000–
1819–13,000–
1818–14,000–
1817–15,000–
1816–17,000–
  • 12.3Estimates, Correlates of War

Each country on its own

Good to know

  • Active-duty military personnel, with paramilitary forces where they are trained and equipped like soldiers, by the IISS Military Balance.
  • Source: IISS, The Military Balance, via the World Bank.
  • Before 1985: Correlates of War Project, National Material Capabilities v7.0; Singer, Bremer and Stuckey (1972), “Capability Distribution, Uncertainty, and Major Power War, 1820–1965”, in Bruce Russett (ed.), Peace, War, and Numbers, Sage, 19–48.
  • Ranks count the 170 countries with a value in 2020, highest first.
  • The faint line is the world as a whole, as the same source counts it.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time

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