You’ll Never Guess Which Country Has a World-Highest 20+ Guns For Every Soldier in its Army

Although the United States has one of the largest and most powerful militaries across the globe, it doesn’t even enter within the top 50 countries in terms of amount of guns per soldier. Indeed, the country with the most guns per soldier (Ukraine) leads the pack at 21.2 guns per military personnel. Using data from the Small Arms Survey and the World Bank (listed below), we’ve estimated the United States has 3.3 guns per military personnel. The first country on our list,  Kazakhstan, comes in at 30th, with 5.3 guns per soldier.

24/7 Wall St. reviewed 2017 military-owned firearms data from Small Arms Survey, an international firearms-monitoring organization to identify the militaries that possess the largest number of guns per soldier. We used the 2019 troop count, which includes paramilitary forces, from the World Bank to rank nearly 160 countries by the estimated number of military-owned firearms per enlisted personnel. Troop counts as a percentage of the workforce, population figures, and military spending in current U.S. dollars and as a share of gross domestic product are also from the World Bank. The data used is the most recent available data.

There are 177 countries in the world and according to the latest available comparable data, there are at least 133 million military firearms spread amongst them. These firearms are not only a leading tool of conflict and violence, as exemplified by the current war between Russia and Ukraine, but they also make up the largest pool of centrally controlled weapons stockpiles.

The top 30 countries with the biggest military weapons stockpiles, which together have a population of 2 billion people, had 7.3 million armed forces personnel in 2019. These countries spent $399 billion on their defense budgets in 2020. (This is every firearm currently used by the U.S. military.)

Surprisingly, one of the world’s top military powers, the United States, is not on this list. Although the US leads the globe on military spending overall, it’s not among the countries with the most firearms per military personnel. Far from the top of the list, the US ranks 54th. However, the US does lead the world in terms of civilian firearms and firearms per civilian. Indeed, there are more civilian-owned firearms in the US than military-owned firearms in the world. (These are countries with the most gun deaths per capita.)

Why This Matters

With each country’s commitment to its national defense, the global arms sector is a massive industry. Billions of dollars go into defense contracts with industry giants such as Lockheed Martin, RTX Corp,  AVIC, BAE Systems, and China South. Among the 30 countries with the largest arsenal of weapons per soldier, China leads in spending with a $252 billion budget in 2020. Russia, Israel, and Singapore spent between $10.9 billion and $61.7 billion each. The countries that spent the largest share of their GDP on their military, more than 4%, in 2020 are Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. We’re covering the military with the largest arsenal of guns per soldier to help you understand the wide-ranging impact the arms industry has on the global economy.

Here is the military with the most guns per military personnel:

30. Kazakhstan

• Est. military-owned firearms: 5.3 per military personnel (375,690 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 71,000 (0.8% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $1.7 billion (1.1% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 19,002,586
• Region: Central Asia

29. Estonia

• Est. military-owned firearms: 5.5 per military personnel (38,760 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 7,000 (1.0% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $701.0 million (2.3% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 1,329,254
• Region: Northern Europe

28. North Korea

• Est. military-owned firearms: 5.7 per military personnel (8,363,100 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 1,469,000 (8.7% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: N/A
• Population, 2021: 25,887,045
• Region: Eastern Asia

27. Israel

• Est. military-owned firearms: 5.7 per military personnel (1,016,900 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 178,000 (4.3% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $21.7 billion (5.6% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 9,364,000
• Region: Western Asia

26. Ecuador

• Est. military-owned firearms: 6.0 per military personnel (253,668 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 42,000 (0.5% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $2.2 billion (2.4% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 17,888,474
• Region: South America

25. Cyprus

• Est. military-owned firearms: 6.2 per military personnel (99,000 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 16,000 (2.5% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $418.8 million (1.8% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 1,215,588
• Region: Western Asia

24. Czech Republic

• Est. military-owned firearms: 6.3 per military personnel (157,233 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 25,000 (0.5% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $3.3 billion (1.4% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 10,703,446
• Region: Eastern Europe

23. Portugal

• Est. military-owned firearms: 6.4 per military personnel (333,640 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 52,000 (1.0% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $4.6 billion (2.1% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 10,299,423
• Region: Southern Europe

22. Azerbaijan

• Est. military-owned firearms: 6.6 per military personnel (537,920 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 82,000 (1.6% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $2.2 billion (5.4% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 10,145,212
• Region: Western Asia

21. Argentina

• Est. military-owned firearms: 6.6 per military personnel (679,770 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 103,000 (0.5% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $2.9 billion (0.8% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 45,808,747
• Region: South America

20. Tanzania

• Est. military-owned firearms: 6.8 per military personnel (190,050 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 28,000 (0.1% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $659.3 million (1.0% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 61,498,438
• Region: Eastern Africa

19. Kyrgyzstan

• Est. military-owned firearms: 6.9 per military personnel (145,010 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 21,000 (0.8% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $127.5 million (1.8% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 6,694,200
• Region: Central Asia

18. Vietnam

• Est. military-owned firearms: 7.3 per military personnel (3,829,200 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 522,000 (0.9% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: N/A
• Population, 2021: 98,168,829
• Region: South-eastern Asia

17. Paraguay

• Est. military-owned firearms: 8.1 per military personnel (235,780 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 29,000 (0.8% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $364.3 million (1.0% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 7,219,641
• Region: South America

16. Denmark

• Est. military-owned firearms: 8.3 per military personnel (124,120 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 15,000 (0.5% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $5.0 billion (1.4% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 5,856,733
• Region: Northern Europe

15. Sweden

• Est. military-owned firearms: 9.3 per military personnel (139,180 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 15,000 (0.3% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $6.5 billion (1.2% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 10,415,811
• Region: Northern Europe

14. Singapore

• Est. military-owned firearms: 9.7 per military personnel (574,140 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 59,000 (1.7% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $10.9 billion (3.2% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 5,453,566
• Region: South-eastern Asia

13. Armenia

• Est. military-owned firearms: 10.4 per military personnel (509,240 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 49,000 (3.9% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $634.0 million (4.9% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 2,968,128
• Region: Western Asia

12. China

• Est. military-owned firearms: 10.8 per military personnel (27,466,400 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 2,535,000 (0.3% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $252.3 billion (1.7% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 1,412,360,000
• Region: Eastern Asia

11. Austria

• Est. military-owned firearms: 10.9 per military personnel (240,880 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 22,000 (0.5% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $3.6 billion (0.8% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 8,956,279
• Region: Western Europe

10. Nicaragua

• Est. military-owned firearms: 11.4 per military personnel (136,800 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 12,000 (0.4% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $78.0 million (0.7% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 6,702,379
• Region: Central America

9. Serbia

• Est. military-owned firearms: 12.0 per military personnel (384,422 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 32,000 (1.0% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $1.1 billion (2.1% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 6,844,078
• Region: Southern Europe

8. Cuba

• Est. military-owned firearms: 12.6 per military personnel (958,100 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 76,000 (1.4% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: N/A
• Population, 2021: 11,317,498
• Region: Caribbean

7. Switzerland

• Est. military-owned firearms: 16.2 per military personnel (324,484 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 20,000 (0.4% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $5.7 billion (0.8% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 8,697,723
• Region: Western Europe

6. Moldova

• Est. military-owned firearms: 16.4 per military personnel (98,600 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 6,000 (0.6% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $44.5 million (0.4% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 2,573,928
• Region: Eastern Europe

5. Finland

• Est. military-owned firearms: 17.6 per military personnel (475,030 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 27,000 (1.0% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $4.1 billion (1.5% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 5,541,696
• Region: Northern Europe

4. Mongolia

• Est. military-owned firearms: 18.0 per military personnel (323,400 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 18,000 (1.3% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $112.2 million (0.8% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 3,329,282
• Region: Eastern Asia

3. Slovenia

• Est. military-owned firearms: 18.8 per military personnel (131,686 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 7,000 (0.7% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $574.8 million (1.1% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 2,107,007
• Region: Southern Europe

2. Russian Federation

• Est. military-owned firearms: 20.8 per military personnel (30,272,900 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 1,454,000 (2.0% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $61.7 billion (4.3% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 143,446,060
• Region: Eastern Europe

1. Ukraine

• Est. military-owned firearms: 21.2 per military personnel (6,600,000 total)
• Est. military personnel (incl. paramilitary troops), 2019: 311,000 (1.5% of labor force)
• Annual military spending, 2020: $5.9 billion (4.1% of GDP)
• Population, 2021: 43,814,581
• Region: Eastern Europe

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