Bulgaria vs Italy: Armed forces personnel as a share of total population
Bulgaria
0.5%
in 2020
Italy
0.6%
in 2020
Bulgaria rank
55th
Italy rank
53rd
Armed forces personnel as a share of total population over time
- Bulgaria
- Italy
How they compare
Italy currently reports 0.6% against 0.5% in Bulgaria, a difference of 0.1%.
That makes Italy's figure about 1.1 times Bulgaria's.
The two have swapped places 3 times across 33 shared years of data; in 1985 it was Bulgaria ahead.
Bulgaria ranks 55th and Italy ranks 53rd of 173 countries.
Across the 5 decades both report, Bulgaria averaged higher in 4 and Italy in 1.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Bulgaria | Italy | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 1.7% | 0.8% | 0.9% | Bulgaria |
| 1990s | 1.3% | 0.9% | 0.4% | Bulgaria |
| 2000s | 1.1% | 0.8% | 0.4% | Bulgaria |
| 2010s | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.0% | Bulgaria |
| 2020s | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.0% | Italy |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher armed forces personnel as a share of total population, Bulgaria or Italy?
- Italy, at 0.6% against 0.5% in Bulgaria as of 2020.
- What is the difference in armed forces personnel as a share of total population between Bulgaria and Italy?
- 0.1%, with Italy ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Bulgaria and Italy?
- 33 years are reported by both, from 1985 to 2020.
- How do Bulgaria and Italy rank globally for armed forces personnel as a share of total population?
- Bulgaria ranks 55th and Italy ranks 53rd of 173 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- The Military Balance - International Institute for Strategic Studies, via World Bank (2026); Population based on various sources (2024) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as Armed forces personnel as a share of total population. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Armed forces personnel are active duty military personnel, including paramilitary forces if their training, organization, equipment, and control suggest they may be used to support or replace regular military forces.