Statizoid

China vs Russia: Armed forces personnel

China
2.54 million
in 2020
Russia
1.45 million
in 2020
China rank
2nd
Russia rank
4th

Armed forces personnel over time

  • China
  • Russia
1.0M2.0M3.0M4.0M198520022020

How they compare

China currently reports 2.54 million against 1.45 million in Russia, a difference of 1.08 million.

That makes China's figure about 1.7 times Russia's.

Across all 29 years both countries report, China has been ahead every year.

China ranks 2nd and Russia ranks 4th of 173 countries.

Individual pages

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.