There is a draft in 69 countries of the world, they serve there on average for about one and a half years
MOSCOW, Feb 23 - RIA Novosti. The average size of the army in the world is 148 thousand people, and the difference between the largest and the smallest reaches more than 8 thousand times, while there is a draft in 69 countries of the world - and they serve there on average for about a year and a half, RIA Novosti calculated based on open data.
Defender of the Fatherland Day is celebrated in Russia on February 23. The holiday was established in 1922 as the Day of the Red Army, therefore, the military was traditionally congratulated on this day. The holiday received its current name in 1995.
Which countries have an army?
Among the 193 States, only 23 countries do not have an army, including the Vatican, Iceland, Costa Rica, Panama and Micronesia. Most of the States that do not have an army are former colonies that are under the protection of their ex-metropolises or neighbors, or they have paramilitary formations that partially perform the functions of the army.
The largest army is in China, where almost 2.04 million people serve. Next are India (1.46 million) and the USA (1.33 million). In Russia, the number of military personnel in the army is set at 1.32 million, according to a decree signed last December by Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to Global Firepower, the number of the army in North Korea is 1.32 million people, and in Ukraine - 900 thousand.
The top ten includes Pakistan (654 thousand people), Iran (610 thousand people), South Korea and Vietnam (600 thousand people each), as well as Egypt (440 thousand people).
Antigua and Barbuda has the smallest army in the world, where 245 people serve - this is 8.3 thousand times less than the Chinese military. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the top 5 "dwarf" armed forces include Seychelles, where 420 people serve, Barbados with 610 military personnel and the Gambia - 800 people. And the Luxembourg army closes the top five, where, according to the latest data, about 1,000 people serve.
Is there a call and how long to serve?
Compulsory conscription is available in 69 countries of the world with an average service life of 18 months.
The shortest service periods in Denmark and Qatar are from 4 to 12 months, depending on the education and type of troops. Next comes Finland with a conscription period of 5.5-12 months. And in Austria, men serve for six months.
Many countries adhere to the standard period of one year, including Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Greece, Switzerland, Kuwait and Algeria. From one to two years they serve, for example, in Belarus, Chile, Guatemala, Paraguay, South Sudan. Conscripts from Cyprus spend at least 14 months in the army, and 18 months from Colombia, Laos, Eritrea and South Korea.
Military service lasts exactly two years in Armenia, China, Singapore and Thailand. Service in the Turkmen army lasts up to 30 months, up to 32 in Israel, 36 in Vietnam, Myanmar, Chad and Egypt. And the longest military service in the world is in North Korea: men serve for 10 years, and women for 3 years.
Armies that do not have compulsory conscription are formed at the expense of contract soldiers, but many countries in recent years have faced a shortage of those willing to join the ranks of the military. So, in Britain, the shortage of those willing to serve under contract in 2023 amounted to 7.5 thousand people, in the United States in 2022 a quarter of the recruitment target was missed, in Canada the deficit was 16 thousand people. Problems with the recruitment of contractors have also been recognized in recent years in Australia, India, Germany and Bulgaria.
The defense budget
The ten countries that spend the most on defense have budgeted total expenditures in 2023, which, in terms of Russian currency, amounted to 100 trillion rubles (at the exchange rate at the time of adoption of the documents) - this is 439 Crimean bridges or the GDP of Indonesia or Spain last year.
More than half of these expenses - 55.2 trillion rubles - fell on the United States, and about 16.2 trillion more - on China. Russia, according to the adopted budget for 2023-2025, budgeted defense spending last year at 4.98 trillion rubles. India and Britain had slightly less expenses, about 4.97 trillion rubles each.
The top ten also includes Saudi Arabia (4.67 trillion rubles), Germany (4.3 trillion), France (4.1 trillion), Japan (3.3 trillion) and South Korea (2.96 trillion).