Statizoid

Russia vs United States: Armed forces personnel

Russia
1.45 million
in 2020
United States
1.40 million
in 2020
Russia rank
4th
United States rank
5th

Armed forces personnel over time

  • Russia
  • United States
0500.0k1.0M1.5M2.0M198520022020

How they compare

Russia currently reports 1.45 million against 1.40 million in United States, a difference of 59,000.

The two have swapped places 3 times across 29 shared years of data; in 1992 it was United States ahead.

Russia ranks 4th and United States ranks 5th 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.