Sri Lanka

Armed forces personnel in Sri Lanka

Armed forces personnel in Sri Lanka: 21,600 people in 1985 and 317,000 people in 2020, by IISS estimates.

Latest, 2020
317,000 people
Since 1985
+295,400 people
Rank, 2020
22 of 170
counting from the highest
World, 2020
27.4 million people
Watch it change on the map

people · IISS

Armed forces personnel in Sri LankaArmed forces personnel in Sri Lanka: 21,600 people in 1985 and 317,000 people in 2020, by IISS estimates. The highest was 317,000 people in 2017, the lowest 21,600 people in 1985.
Estimates, IISSEstimates, Correlates of WarWorld

What the numbers say

  • The highest was 317,000 people in 2017, the lowest 21,600 people in 1985.
  • Older estimates from Correlates of War reach back to 1948: 0 people.

Every year

people · IISS

YearSri LankaWorld
2020317,00027.4 million
2019317,00027.7 million
2018317,00027.7 million
2017317,00027.4 million
2016305,20027.5 million
2015265,20027.4 million
2014223,10027.3 million
2013223,10027.2 million
2012223,10028.2 million
2011223,10028 million
2010223,10028.1 million
2009223,10027.9 million
2008213,00027.5 million
2007213,00027.3 million
2006213,00027 million
2005200,00028.5 million
2004239,00027.1 million
2003240,90028.2 million
2002246,50028.3 million
2001209,60028.2 million
2000203,60029.4 million
1999218,30029.6 million
1998225,20029.9 million
1997227,20029.9 million
1996225,20030.2 million
1995235,50030.2 million
1994110,00023.2 million
1993110,00023.7 million
1992110,00024.5 million
1991110,00022.7 million
199022,00023.9 million
198922,00024.3 million
198521,60022.2 million
198417,000–
198316,000–
198218,000–
198118,000–
198018,000–
197918,000–
197813,000–
197718,000–
197618,000–
197518,000–
197418,000–
197318,000–
197216,000–
197110,000–
197010,000–
196910,000–
196810,000–
196710,000–
196610,000–
19659,000–
19649,000–
196311,000–
196210,000–
196110,000–
19606,000–
19594,000–
19583,000–
19572,000–
19561,000–
19551,000–
19542,000–
19532,000–
19522,000–
19512,000–
19502,000–
19491,000–
19480–
  • 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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