Vietnam

Armed forces personnel in Vietnam

Armed forces personnel in Vietnam: 1.03 million people in 1985 and 522,000 people in 2020, by IISS estimates.

Latest, 2020
522,000 people
Since 1985
−505,000 people
Rank, 2020
12 of 170
counting from the highest
World, 2020
27.4 million people
Watch it change on the map

people · IISS

Armed forces personnel in VietnamArmed forces personnel in Vietnam: 1.03 million people in 1985 and 522,000 people in 2020, by IISS estimates. The highest was 1.25 million people in 1989, the lowest 495,000 people in 2005.
Estimates, IISSEstimates, Correlates of WarWorld

What the numbers say

  • The highest was 1.25 million people in 1989, the lowest 495,000 people in 2005.
  • Older estimates from Correlates of War reach back to 1976: 637,000 people.

Every year

people · IISS

YearVietnamWorld
2020522,00027.4 million
2019522,00027.7 million
2018522,00027.7 million
2017522,00027.4 million
2016522,00027.5 million
2015522,00027.4 million
2014522,00027.3 million
2013522,00027.2 million
2012522,00028.2 million
2011522,00028 million
2010522,00028.1 million
2009495,00027.9 million
2008495,00027.5 million
2007495,00027.3 million
2006495,00027 million
2005495,00028.5 million
2004–27.1 million
2003524,00028.2 million
2002524,00028.3 million
2001524,00028.2 million
2000524,00029.4 million
1999524,00029.6 million
1998524,00029.9 million
1997557,00029.9 million
1996622,00030.2 million
1995622,00030.2 million
1994700,00023.2 million
1993857,00023.7 million
1992857,00024.5 million
19911.04 million22.7 million
19901.05 million23.9 million
19891.25 million24.3 million
19851.03 million22.2 million
19841.23 million–
19831.03 million–
19821 million–
19811 million–
1980900,000–
1979650,000–
1978660,000–
1977615,000–
1976637,000–
  • 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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