You Won’t Guess the Country With a Reserve Army 10 Times Bigger Than China’s

24/7 Wall St. Insights

Many countries rely on military reservists to support active duty forces in times of conflict.
While world powers like China have 510,000 reservists, you might be surprised at the leader on this list with an estimated 5 million reservists.
Some smaller countries actually have disproportionately large reserve forces compared to their populations.
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The U.S. Marine Corps recently announced that Active Reserve Marines, a branch of the Marines that remains full-time in reserves, would begin taking on new roles. More specifically, the Active Reserve Marines will be placed in roles as drill or combat instructors. Typically, reservists do not take part in special duty assignments (SDA) such as these, though the Active Reserve Marines represent a more specialized force. Military reservists normally enhance a nation’s military power through training and readiness, disaster response, and technical or combat support. (Here are the deadliest billion-dollar natural disasters in U.S. history that reservists might have responded to.)

Many countries on a global scale rely on reservists for support. Should a conflict erupt, these countries already have a reserve of military personnel ready to jump in. Although these military members are not active duty, they are a crucial and central component of any military force. Eight countries have reserve forces of more than 1 million people. As you’ll see on this list, Vietnam rules the pack with 5 million reservists.

It’s unsurprising to see countries with large populations on this list, but important to note that reservists and population size don’t always correlate. Countries like Israel and Finland have small populations but comparatively large reserves. Outside of active troops and reservists, countries also have a third broad category of military personnel: paramilitary organizations, state-sanctioned forces that have sometimes acted outside the rules of engagement. (Check out the countries with the fastest growing military powers.)

To identify the countries with the most military reserve personnel, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed 2024 Military Strength Ranking from Global Firepower, an annually updated defense-related statistics website with information on 145 countries. Countries were ranked on the total number of military reserves. We included supplemental information regarding active personnel, total population, fit-for-service, paramilitary forces, and overall military strength score.

Why We’re Covering This

United States military helicopter. Combat US air force

A country’s military reserve forces say a lot about its defense strategies, capabilities, and readiness. Reserves are a great way to maintain military strength without breaking the bank on a standing army. Looking at which countries have the most military reserve personnel provides a greater look into how that country views their defense standing and what threats that country is worried about.

Here is a look at the countries with the most military reserve personnel:

30. Paraguay

Reserves: 168,500
Total military personnel: 199,150
Active personnel: 15,650
Paramilitary forces: 15,000
Total population: 7,439,863
Fit-for-service: 2,968,505
Military strength score: 1.7053 – #85 out of 145

29. Thailand

Reserves: 200,000
Total military personnel: 585,850
Active personnel: 360,850
Paramilitary forces: 25,000
Total population: 69,794,997
Fit-for-service: 27,917,999
Military strength score: 0.3389 – #25 out of 145

28. Armenia

Reserves: 210,000
Total military personnel: 272,500
Active personnel: 57,500
Paramilitary forces: 5,000
Total population: 2,989,091
Fit-for-service: 1,371,993
Military strength score: 2.0583 – #102 out of 145

27. Portugal

Reserves: 211,700
Total military personnel: 260,400
Active personnel: 24,000
Paramilitary forces: 24,700
Total population: 10,467,366
Fit-for-service: 4,029,936
Military strength score: 0.5609 – #38 out of 145

26. Greece

Reserves: 221,350
Total military personnel: 419,050
Active personnel: 142,700
Paramilitary forces: 55,000
Total population: 10,497,595
Fit-for-service: 3,999,584
Military strength score: 0.4349 – #32 out of 145

25. Singapore

Reserves: 252,500
Total military personnel: 315,500
Active personnel: 51,000
Paramilitary forces: 12,000
Total population: 5,975,383
Fit-for-service: 2,605,267
Military strength score: 0.4087 – #30 out of 145

24. Azerbaijan

Reserves: 300,000
Total military personnel: 441,400
Active personnel: 126,400
Paramilitary forces: 15,000
Total population: 10,420,515
Fit-for-service: 3,824,329
Military strength score: 0.9934 – #59 out of 145

23. Kyrgyzstan

Qatar+F-15 | Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) McDonnell Douglas CF-188 "Hornet" - A Canadian Armed Forces CF-18 "Hornet" (official military designation CF-188) (S/N 188741)

Reserves: 300,000
Total military personnel: 378,000
Active personnel: 23,000
Paramilitary forces: 55,000
Total population: 6,122,781
Fit-for-service: 2,467,481
Military strength score: 2.0057 – #100 out of 145

22. Brazil

Reserves: 340,000
Total military personnel: 900,000
Active personnel: 360,000
Paramilitary forces: 200,000
Total population: 218,689,757
Fit-for-service: 88,131,972
Military strength score: 0.1944 – #12 out of 145

21. Iran

Reserves: 350,000
Total military personnel: 1,180,000
Active personnel: 610,000
Paramilitary forces: 220,000
Total population: 87,590,873
Fit-for-service: 41,167,710
Military strength score: 0.2269 – #14 out of 145

20. Poland

Reserves: 350,000
Total military personnel: 602,100
Active personnel: 202,100
Paramilitary forces: 50,000
Total population: 37,991,766
Fit-for-service: 15,272,690
Military strength score: 0.2917 – #21 out of 145

19. Turkey

Reserves: 378,700
Total military personnel: 883,900
Active personnel: 355,200
Paramilitary forces: 150,000
Total population: 83,593,483
Fit-for-service: 3,561,604
Military strength score: 0.1697 – #8 out of 145

18. Peru

Reserves: 385,000
Total military personnel: 565,000
Active personnel: 120,000
Paramilitary forces: 60,000
Total population: 32,440,172
Fit-for-service: 12,619,227
Military strength score: 0.8475 – #53 out of 145

17. Indonesia

Reserves: 400,000
Total military personnel: 1,050,000
Active personnel: 400,000
Paramilitary forces: 250,000
Total population: 279,476,346
Fit-for-service: 113,746,873
Military strength score: 0.2251 – #13 out of 145

16. Israel

Reserves: 465,000
Total military personnel: 670,000
Active personnel: 170,000
Paramilitary forces: 35,000
Total population: 9,043,387
Fit-for-service: 3,156,142
Military strength score: 0.2596 – #17 out of 145

15. Egypt

Reserves: 480,000
Total military personnel: 1,220,000
Active personnel: 440,000
Paramilitary forces: 300,000
Total population: 109,546,720
Fit-for-service: 37,684,072
Military strength score: 0.2283 – #15 out of 145

14. China

Reserves: 510,000
Total military personnel: 3,170,000
Active personnel: 2,035,000
Paramilitary forces: 625,000
Total population: 1,413,142,846
Fit-for-service: 626,022,281
Military strength score: 0.0706 – #3 out of 145

13. Pakistan

Reserves: 550,000
Total military personnel: 1,704,000
Active personnel: 654,000
Paramilitary forces: 500,000
Total population: 247,653,551
Fit-for-service: 84,202,207
Military strength score: 0.1711 – #9 out of 145

12. North Korea

Reserves: 560,000
Total military personnel: 1,980,000
Active personnel: 1,320,000
Paramilitary forces: 100,000
Total population: 26,072,217
Fit-for-service: 5,266,588
Military strength score: 0.5313 – #36 out of 145

11. Tajikistan

Reserves: 600,000
Total military personnel: 629,500
Active personnel: 9,500
Paramilitary forces: 20,000
Total population: 9,245,937
Fit-for-service: 3,356,275
Military strength score: 2.1265 – #107 out of 145

10. United States

Reserves: 799,500
Total military personnel: 2,127,500
Active personnel: 1,328,000
Paramilitary forces: 0
Total population: 339,665,118
Fit-for-service: 123,977,768
Military strength score: 0.0699 – #1 out of 145

9. Finland

Reserves: 870,000
Total military personnel: 947,800
Active personnel: 24,000
Paramilitary forces: 53,800
Total population: 5,614,571
Fit-for-service: 1,908,954
Military strength score: 0.7967 – #50 out of 145

8. United Kingdom

Reserves: 924,000
Total military personnel: 1,108,860
Active personnel: 184,860
Paramilitary forces: 0
Total population: 68,138,484
Fit-for-service: 25,074,962
Military strength score: 0.1443 – #6 out of 145

7. India

Reserves: 1,155,000
Total military personnel: 5,137,550
Active personnel: 1,455,550
Paramilitary forces: 2,527,000
Total population: 1,399,179,585
Fit-for-service: 519,095,626
Military strength score: 0.1023 – #4 out of 145

6. Philippines

Reserves: 1,200,000
Total military personnel: 1,385,000
Active personnel: 150,000
Paramilitary forces: 35,000
Total population: 116,434,200
Fit-for-service: 41,101,273
Military strength score: 0.4691 – #34 out of 145

5. Ukraine

Reserves: 1,200,000
Total military personnel: 2,200,000
Active personnel: 900,000
Paramilitary forces: 100,000
Total population: 43,306,477
Fit-for-service: 15,460,412
Military strength score: 0.2598 – #18 out of 145

4. Russia

Reserves: 2,000,000
Total military personnel: 3,570,000
Active personnel: 1,320,000
Paramilitary forces: 250,000
Total population: 141,698,923
Fit-for-service: 46,477,247
Military strength score: 0.0702 – #2 out of 145

3. Taiwan

Reserves: 2,310,000
Total military personnel: 2,580,000
Active personnel: 215,000
Paramilitary forces: 55,000
Total population: 23,588,613
Fit-for-service: 1,061,488
Military strength score: 0.3302 – #24 out of 145

2. South Korea

Reserves: 3,100,000
Total military personnel: 3,820,000
Active personnel: 600,000
Paramilitary forces: 120,000
Total population: 51,966,948
Fit-for-service: 21,306,449
Military strength score: 0.1416 – #5 out of 145

1. Vietnam

Reserves: 5,000,000
Total military personnel: 5,850,000
Active personnel: 600,000
Paramilitary forces: 250,000
Total population: 104,799,174
Fit-for-service: 44,644,448
Military strength score: 0.3158 – #22 out of 145

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