Cuba vs South Africa: Armed forces personnel

Cuba
76,000
in 2020
South Africa
89,000
in 2020
Cuba rank
57th
South Africa rank
54th

Armed forces personnel over time

  • Cuba
  • South Africa
50.0k100.0k150.0k200.0k250.0k300.0k198520022020

How they compare

South Africa currently reports 89,000 against 76,000 in Cuba, a difference of 13,000.

That makes South Africa's figure about 1.2 times Cuba's.

The two have swapped places 7 times across 33 shared years of data; in 1985 it was Cuba ahead.

Cuba ranks 57th and South Africa ranks 54th 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.