Bangladesh vs Eritrea: Armed forces personnel

Bangladesh
227,000
in 2020
Eritrea
202,000
in 2020
Bangladesh rank
29th
Eritrea rank
31st

Armed forces personnel over time

  • Bangladesh
  • Eritrea
50.0k100.0k150.0k200.0k250.0k198520022020

How they compare

Bangladesh currently reports 227,000 against 202,000 in Eritrea, a difference of 25,000.

That makes Bangladesh's figure about 1.1 times Eritrea's.

The two have swapped places 4 times across 27 shared years of data; in 1993 it was Bangladesh ahead.

Bangladesh ranks 29th and Eritrea ranks 31st of 173 countries.

Bangladesh has averaged higher in every one of the 4 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade Bangladesh Eritrea Difference Ahead
1990s 155,900 73,300 82,600 Bangladesh
2000s 210,228 194,983 15,245 Bangladesh
2010s 222,170 201,800 20,370 Bangladesh
2020s 227,000 202,000 25,000 Bangladesh

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher armed forces personnel, Bangladesh or Eritrea?
Bangladesh, at 227,000 against 202,000 in Eritrea as of 2020.
What is the difference in armed forces personnel between Bangladesh and Eritrea?
25,000, with Bangladesh ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Bangladesh and Eritrea?
27 years are reported by both, from 1993 to 2020.
How do Bangladesh and Eritrea rank globally for armed forces personnel?
Bangladesh ranks 29th and Eritrea ranks 31st of 173 countries.
Where does this data come from?
The Military Balance - International Institute for Strategic Studies, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Armed forces personnel. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Bangladesh vs Eritrea: Armed forces personnel. Statizoid, drawing on The Military Balance - International Institute for Strategic Studies, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 23 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/armed-forces-personnel/bangladesh/eritrea/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/armed-forces-personnel/bangladesh/eritrea/">Bangladesh vs Eritrea: Armed forces personnel</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Armed forces personnel
Source
The Military Balance - International Institute for Strategic Studies, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
173 places, 5,352 data points, 1985–2020
Last refreshed

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.