Iran vs Pakistan: Military personnel

Iran
610,000
in 2022
Pakistan
652,000
in 2022
Iran rank
8th
Pakistan rank
7th

Military personnel over time

  • Iran
  • Pakistan
0200.0k400.0k600.0k185519382022

How they compare

Pakistan currently reports 652,000 against 610,000 in Iran, a difference of 42,000.

That makes Pakistan's figure about 1.1 times Iran's.

The two have swapped places 2 times across 76 shared years of data; in 1947 it was Pakistan ahead.

Iran ranks 8th and Pakistan ranks 7th of 194 countries.

Pakistan has averaged higher in every one of the 9 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade Iran Pakistan Difference Ahead
1940s 99,000 265,333 166,333 Pakistan
1950s 133,100 217,700 84,600 Pakistan
1960s 205,300 293,500 88,200 Pakistan
1970s 328,000 476,100 148,100 Pakistan
1980s 367,800 502,100 134,300 Pakistan
1990s 505,400 580,500 75,100 Pakistan
2000s 514,400 618,500 104,100 Pakistan
2010s 523,000 641,200 118,200 Pakistan
2020s 610,000 652,667 42,667 Pakistan

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher military personnel, Iran or Pakistan?
Pakistan, at 652,000 against 610,000 in Iran as of 2022.
What is the difference in military personnel between Iran and Pakistan?
42,000, with Pakistan ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Iran and Pakistan?
76 years are reported by both, from 1947 to 2022.
How do Iran and Pakistan rank globally for military personnel?
Iran ranks 8th and Pakistan ranks 7th of 194 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Our World in Data, published as Military 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

Iran vs Pakistan: Military personnel. Statizoid, drawing on Our World in Data. Retrieved 14 November 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/military-personnel/iran-islamic-rep/pakistan/

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/military-personnel/iran-islamic-rep/pakistan/">Iran vs Pakistan: Military personnel</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Military personnel
Source
Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
194 places, 15,765 data points, 1816–2022
Last refreshed