Bangladesh

Armed forces personnel in Bangladesh

Armed forces personnel in Bangladesh: 91,300 people in 1985 and 227,000 people in 2020, by IISS estimates.

Latest, 2020
227,000 people
Since 1985
+135,700 people
Rank, 2020
29 of 170
counting from the highest
World, 2020
27.4 million people

people · IISS

Armed forces personnel in BangladeshArmed forces personnel in Bangladesh: 91,300 people in 1985 and 227,000 people in 2020, by IISS estimates. The highest was 252,000 people in 2005, the lowest 91,300 people in 1985.
Estimates, IISSEstimates, Correlates of WarWorld

What the numbers say

  • The highest was 252,000 people in 2005, the lowest 91,300 people in 1985.
  • Older estimates from Correlates of War reach back to 1972: 47,000 people.

Every year

people · IISS

YearBangladeshWorld
2020227,00027.4 million
2019227,00027.7 million
2018227,10027.7 million
2017221,00027.4 million
2016221,00027.5 million
2015221,00027.4 million
2014221,00027.3 million
2013221,00027.2 million
2012221,00028.2 million
2011221,00028 million
2010221,00028.1 million
2009221,00027.9 million
2008221,00027.5 million
2007221,00027.3 million
2006214,00027 million
2005252,00028.5 million
2004251,00027.1 million
2003188,70028.2 million
2002200,20028.3 million
2001200,20028.2 million
2000137,00029.4 million
1999192,20029.6 million
1998170,70029.9 million
1997170,70029.9 million
1996167,20030.2 million
1995170,50030.2 million
1994113,00023.2 million
1993107,00023.7 million
1992107,00024.5 million
1991107,00022.7 million
1990103,00023.9 million
1989103,00024.3 million
198591,30022.2 million
198481,000–
198377,000–
198277,000–
198177,000–
198071,000–
1979120,000–
1978129,000–
1977126,000–
1976126,000–
1975100,000–
1974100,000–
197386,000–
197247,000–
  • 12.3Estimates, Correlates of War

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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