Sudan

Armed forces personnel in Sudan

Armed forces personnel in Sudan: 56,600 people in 1985 and 144,000 people in 2020, by IISS estimates.

Latest, 2020
144,000 people
Since 1985
+87,400 people
Rank, 2020
43 of 170
counting from the highest
World, 2020
27.4 million people
Watch it change on the map

people · IISS

Armed forces personnel in SudanArmed forces personnel in Sudan: 56,600 people in 1985 and 144,000 people in 2020, by IISS estimates. The highest was 264,300 people in 2011, the lowest 56,600 people in 1985.
Estimates, IISSEstimates, Correlates of WarWorld

What the numbers say

  • The highest was 264,300 people in 2011, the lowest 56,600 people in 1985.
  • Older estimates from Correlates of War reach back to 1956: 9,000 people.

Every year

people · IISS

YearSudanWorld
2020144,00027.4 million
2019124,00027.7 million
2018124,30027.7 million
2017124,00027.4 million
2016124,30027.5 million
2015264,30027.4 million
2014264,30027.3 million
2013264,30027.2 million
2012264,30028.2 million
2011264,30028 million
2010126,80028.1 million
2009126,80027.9 million
2008127,00027.5 million
2007127,00027.3 million
2006–27 million
2005123,00028.5 million
2004121,00027.1 million
2003114,50028.2 million
2002124,00028.3 million
2001124,00028.2 million
2000119,50029.4 million
1999109,70029.6 million
1998109,70029.9 million
199794,70029.9 million
1996104,00030.2 million
1995133,50030.2 million
199482,00023.2 million
199382,00023.7 million
199282,00024.5 million
199165,00022.7 million
199065,00023.9 million
198965,00024.3 million
198556,60022.2 million
198465,000–
198386,000–
198286,000–
198187,000–
198065,000–
197965,000–
197871,000–
197750,000–
197650,000–
197550,000–
197435,000–
197335,000–
197235,000–
197135,000–
197025,000–
196925,000–
196820,000–
196720,000–
196620,000–
196518,000–
196418,000–
196317,000–
196218,000–
196118,000–
196010,000–
195910,000–
19589,000–
19579,000–
19569,000–
  • 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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