Military personnel in Taiwan

Taiwan: Military personnel was 169,000 in 2022. ▼ Falling

Latest (2022)
169,000
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
29th
of 194 countries
All-time high
1.50 million
in 1949
All-time low
163,000
in 2019
Years of data
74
1949–2022

Military personnel in Taiwan, 1949–2022

0500.0k1.0M1.5M194919852022

Source: Our World in Data.

Analysis

In 2022, military personnel in Taiwan stood at 169,000.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 41.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, military personnel in Taiwan peaked at 1.50 million in 1949 and was at its lowest, 163,000, in 2019.

Taiwan ranks 29th of 194 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 74 years of available data.

Military personnel in Taiwan, year by year

Annual values for Military personnel in Taiwan, 1949 to 2022.
Year Value Change
1949 1.50 million —
1950 300,000 -80.0%
1951 500,000 +66.7%
1952 500,000 +0.0%
1953 600,000 +20.0%
1954 600,000 +0.0%
1955 600,000 +0.0%
1956 530,000 -11.7%
1957 580,000 +9.4%
1958 630,000 +8.6%
1959 615,000 -2.4%
1960 600,000 -2.4%
1961 580,000 -3.3%
1962 570,000 -1.7%
1963 544,000 -4.6%
1964 600,000 +10.3%
1965 524,000 -12.7%
1966 544,000 +3.8%
1967 547,000 +0.6%
1968 528,000 -3.5%
1969 555,000 +5.1%
1970 522,000 -5.9%
1971 540,000 +3.4%
1972 550,000 +1.9%
1973 503,000 -8.5%
1974 493,000 -2.0%
1975 504,000 +2.2%
1976 475,000 -5.8%
1977 460,000 -3.2%
1978 471,000 +2.4%
1979 468,000 -0.6%
1980 465,000 -0.6%
1981 461,000 -0.9%
1982 457,000 -0.9%
1983 464,000 +1.5%
1984 484,000 +4.3%
1985 444,000 -8.3%
1986 424,000 -4.5%
1987 424,000 +0.0%
1988 406,000 -4.2%
1989 406,000 +0.0%
1990 370,000 -8.9%
1991 370,000 +0.0%
1992 360,000 -2.7%
1993 442,000 +22.8%
1994 425,000 -3.8%
1995 425,000 +0.0%
1996 400,000 -5.9%
1997 400,000 +0.0%
1998 370,000 -7.5%
1999 370,000 +0.0%
2000 370,000 +0.0%
2001 370,000 +0.0%
2002 370,000 +0.0%
2003 290,000 -21.6%
2004 290,000 +0.0%
2005 290,000 +0.0%
2006 290,000 +0.0%
2007 290,000 +0.0%
2008 290,000 +0.0%
2009 290,000 +0.0%
2010 290,000 +0.0%
2011 290,000 +0.0%
2012 290,000 +0.0%
2013 290,000 +0.0%
2014 290,000 +0.0%
2015 290,000 +0.0%
2016 215,000 -25.9%
2017 215,000 +0.0%
2018 215,000 +0.0%
2019 163,000 -24.2%
2020 163,000 +0.0%
2021 169,000 +3.7%
2022 169,000 +0.0%

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Military personnel in Taiwan changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.

YearChange FromTo
1950 -80.0% 1.50 million 300,000
1951 +66.7% 300,000 500,000
2016 -25.9% 290,000 215,000

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1940s 1.50 million 1.50 million 1.50 million 1
1950s 545,500 300,000 630,000 10
1960s 559,200 524,000 600,000 10
1970s 498,600 460,000 550,000 10
1980s 443,500 406,000 484,000 10
1990s 393,200 360,000 442,000 10
2000s 314,000 290,000 370,000 10
2010s 254,800 163,000 290,000 10
2020s 167,000 163,000 169,000 3

Countries ranked near Taiwan

  1. 26 Iraq 193,000 compare
  2. 27 Germany 183,000 compare
  3. 28 Israel 170,000 compare
  4. 29 Syria 169,000 compare
  5. 31 Bangladesh 163,000 compare
  6. 32 Italy 161,000 compare

See the full ranking of 194 places →

More reference data data for Taiwan

All data for Taiwan →

Frequently asked questions

What is military personnel in Taiwan?
Military personnel in Taiwan was 169,000 in 2022, according to Our World in Data.
What is the highest military personnel recorded in Taiwan?
The highest recorded value was 1.50 million in 1949.
What is the lowest military personnel recorded in Taiwan?
The lowest recorded value was 163,000 in 2019.
How does Taiwan rank for military personnel?
Taiwan ranks 29th out of 194 countries with data for 2022.
Is military personnel rising or falling in Taiwan?
Over the last ten years it is down 41.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Taiwan data come from?
The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Military personnel. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Military personnel in Taiwan. Statizoid, drawing on Our World in Data. Retrieved 13 November 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/military-personnel/taiwan/

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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