Namibia

Armed forces personnel in Namibia

Armed forces personnel in Namibia: 8,000 people in 1991 and 16,000 people in 2020, by IISS estimates.

Latest, 2020
16,000 people
Since 1991
+8,000 people
World, 2020
27.4 million people

people · IISS

Armed forces personnel in NamibiaArmed forces personnel in Namibia: 8,000 people in 1991 and 16,000 people in 2020, by IISS estimates. The highest was 16,000 people in 2017, the lowest 5,900 people in 1997.
Estimates, IISSEstimates, Correlates of WarWorld

What the numbers say

  • The highest was 16,000 people in 2017, the lowest 5,900 people in 1997.
  • Older estimates from Correlates of War reach back to 1990: 10,000 people.

Every year

people · IISS

YearNamibiaWorld
202016,00027.4 million
201916,00027.7 million
201815,90027.7 million
201716,00027.4 million
201615,90027.5 million
201515,20027.4 million
201415,20027.3 million
201315,20027.2 million
201215,20028.2 million
201115,20028 million
201015,20028.1 million
200915,20027.9 million
200815,00027.5 million
200715,00027.3 million
200615,00027 million
200515,00028.5 million
200415,00027.1 million
200315,00028.2 million
200215,00028.3 million
200115,00028.2 million
20009,10029.4 million
19999,10029.6 million
19989,10029.9 million
19975,90029.9 million
19968,20030.2 million
19958,10030.2 million
19948,00023.2 million
19938,00023.7 million
19928,00024.5 million
19918,00022.7 million
199010,00023.9 million
1989–24.3 million
1985–22.2 million
  • 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 1991: 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

Namibia in numbers

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