Armed forces personnel in Palestine

Palestine: Armed forces personnel was 0 in 2020. ▼ Falling

Latest (2020)
0
World rank
169th
of 173 countries
All-time high
56,000
in 2005
All-time low
0
in 2019
Years of data
10
2005–2020

Armed forces personnel in Palestine, 2005–2020

020.0k40.0k60.0k2005201220202005: 56.0k2006: 56.0k2007: 56.0k2008: 56.0k2009: 56.0k2010: 56.0k2011: 56.0k2012: 56.0k2019: 02020: 0

Source: The Military Balance - International Institute for Strategic Studies, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

Palestine recorded 0 for armed forces personnel in 2020. That is the lowest value across all 10 years on record.

That represents a change of down 100.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, armed forces personnel in Palestine peaked at 56,000 in 2005 and was at its lowest, 0, in 2019.

That places Palestine 169th out of 173 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 10 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 56,000 56,000 56,000 5
2010s 42,000 0 56,000 4
2020s 0 0 0 1

Countries ranked near Palestine

  1. 169 Antigua and Barbuda 0 compare
  2. 169 Iceland 0 compare
  3. 169 Libya 0 compare
  4. 169 Seychelles 0 compare

See the full ranking of 173 places →

More reference data data for Palestine

All data for Palestine →

Frequently asked questions

What is armed forces personnel in Palestine?
Armed forces personnel in Palestine was 0 in 2020, according to The Military Balance - International Institute for Strategic Studies, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest armed forces personnel recorded in Palestine?
The highest recorded value was 56,000 in 2005.
What is the lowest armed forces personnel recorded in Palestine?
The lowest recorded value was 0 in 2019.
How does Palestine rank for armed forces personnel?
Palestine ranks 169th out of 173 countries with data for 2020.
Is armed forces personnel rising or falling in Palestine?
Over the last ten years it is down 100.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Palestine data come from?
The figures come from The Military Balance - International Institute for Strategic Studies, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Armed forces personnel. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 10 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

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.