Eritrea
Armed forces personnel in Eritrea
Armed forces personnel in Eritrea: 55,000 people in 1993 and 202,000 people in 2020, by IISS estimates.
- Latest, 2020
- 202,000 people
- Since 1993
- +147,000 people
- Rank, 2020
- 31 of 170
- counting from the highest
- World, 2020
- 27.4 million people
people · IISS
What the numbers say
- The highest was 202,000 people in 2003, the lowest 46,000 people in 1997.
Every year
people · IISS
| Year | Eritrea | World |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 202,000 | 27.4 million |
| 2019 | 202,000 | 27.7 million |
| 2018 | 201,800 | 27.7 million |
| 2017 | 202,000 | 27.4 million |
| 2016 | 201,800 | 27.5 million |
| 2015 | 201,800 | 27.4 million |
| 2014 | 201,800 | 27.3 million |
| 2013 | 201,800 | 27.2 million |
| 2012 | 201,800 | 28.2 million |
| 2011 | 201,800 | 28 million |
| 2010 | 201,800 | 28.1 million |
| 2009 | 201,800 | 27.9 million |
| 2008 | 202,000 | 27.5 million |
| 2007 | 202,000 | 27.3 million |
| 2006 | – | 27 million |
| 2005 | 202,000 | 28.5 million |
| 2004 | 201,000 | 27.1 million |
| 2003 | 202,000 | 28.2 million |
| 2002 | 172,200 | 28.3 million |
| 2001 | 171,900 | 28.2 million |
| 2000 | 200,000 | 29.4 million |
| 1999 | 200,000 | 29.6 million |
| 1998 | 47,100 | 29.9 million |
| 1997 | 46,000 | 29.9 million |
| 1996 | 55,000 | 30.2 million |
| 1995 | 55,000 | 30.2 million |
| 1994 | 55,000 | 23.2 million |
| 1993 | 55,000 | 23.7 million |
| 1992 | – | 24.5 million |
| 1991 | – | 22.7 million |
| 1990 | – | 23.9 million |
| 1989 | – | 24.3 million |
| 1985 | – | 22.2 million |
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.
- 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
Eritrea in numbers
Every measure for Eritrea on one page
Health
People
Economy
Education
Politics
Conflict
Military
- Military spending20.87% of GDP in 2003
- Military spending per person$75 in 2003
- Military share of state spending46.4% of government spending in 2003
- National power0.31% of world capability in 2022
- Armed forces, share of workers13.29% of the labour force in 2020
- Arms imports4 million TIV in 2007
- Arms exports0 TIV in 2006