Iran vs Vietnam: Armed forces personnel

Iran

650,000

in 2020

Vietnam

522,000

in 2020

Iran rank

10th

Vietnam rank

12th

Armed forces personnel over time

Iran
Vietnam

How they compare

Iran currently reports 650,000 against 522,000 in Vietnam, a difference of 128,000.

That makes Iran's figure about 1.2 times Vietnam's.

The two have swapped places 1 time across 32 shared years of data; in 1985 it was Vietnam ahead.

Iran ranks 10th and Vietnam ranks 12th 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: 07 August 2026

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.