Myanmar (Burma)

Armed forces personnel in Myanmar (Burma)

Armed forces personnel in Myanmar (Burma): 186,000 people in 1985 and 463,000 people in 2020, by IISS estimates.

Latest, 2020
463,000 people
Since 1985
+277,000 people
Rank, 2020
14 of 170
counting from the highest
World, 2020
27.4 million people
Watch it change on the map

people · IISS

Armed forces personnel in Myanmar (Burma)Armed forces personnel in Myanmar (Burma): 186,000 people in 1985 and 463,000 people in 2020, by IISS estimates. The highest was 595,000 people in 2003, the lowest 186,000 people in 1985.
Estimates, IISSEstimates, Correlates of WarWorld

What the numbers say

  • The highest was 595,000 people in 2003, the lowest 186,000 people in 1985.
  • Older estimates from Correlates of War reach back to 1948: 3,000 people.

Every year

people · IISS

YearMyanmar (Burma)World
2020463,00027.4 million
2019513,00027.7 million
2018513,00027.7 million
2017513,00027.4 million
2016513,30027.5 million
2015513,30027.4 million
2014513,30027.3 million
2013513,30027.2 million
2012513,30028.2 million
2011513,30028 million
2010513,30028.1 million
2009513,30027.9 million
2008513,00027.5 million
2007513,00027.3 million
2006513,00027 million
2005483,00028.5 million
2004482,30027.1 million
2003595,00028.2 million
2002544,30028.3 million
2001444,30028.2 million
2000429,10029.4 million
1999429,10029.6 million
1998434,90029.9 million
1997429,10029.9 million
1996406,30030.2 million
1995371,30030.2 million
1994322,00023.2 million
1993322,00023.7 million
1992286,00024.5 million
1991286,00022.7 million
1990230,00023.9 million
1989200,00024.3 million
1985186,00022.2 million
1984181,000–
1983179,000–
1982210,000–
1981210,000–
1980179,000–
1979212,000–
1978212,000–
1977208,000–
1976210,000–
1975209,000–
1974202,000–
1973198,000–
1972191,000–
1971175,000–
1970174,000–
1969173,000–
1968136,000–
1967136,000–
1966135,000–
1965133,000–
1964123,000–
1963105,000–
1962100,000–
196190,000–
196079,000–
195967,000–
195856,000–
195744,000–
195633,000–
195525,000–
195419,000–
195314,000–
195210,000–
19518,000–
19506,000–
19494,000–
19483,000–
  • 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

Myanmar (Burma) in numbers

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