Countries With the Fastest Growth in Armed forces personnel (5-Year Change)

Name: Countries With the Fastest Growth in Armed forces personnel (5-Year Change)
Creator: The World Bank
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Change in Armed forces personnel over the five years to each country's latest year, as a percentage of the earlier value. Only countries that rose are listed. Source: The World Bank (CC BY 4.0).

Summary

Haiti rose the most: by 733.3%, from 120 personnel to 1,000 personnel in the five years to 2020. Gambia, The is second (+400%), followed by Mali (+159.5%). 92 countries rose over that period; the median change among them was +7.1%.

#1: Haiti · +733.3%
Median: +7.1%
Coverage: 92 countries
Data year: 2020
Last updated: 2026-11-14

Top 10: 5-year change (%). Bar chart of the top 10: 1. Haiti 733.3; 2. Gambia, The 400; 3. Mali 159.5; 4. Malawi 120.6; 5. Iraq 119.6; 6. Papua New Guinea 110.5; 7. Yemen, Rep. 100; 8. Qatar 86.4; 9. Jamaica 73.9; 10. Latvia 69.5.

Full ranking

Countries With the Fastest Growth in Armed forces personnel (5-Year Change), 2020
Rank	Country	From	To	5-year change (%)
1	Haiti	120	1,000	+733.3%
2	Gambia, The	800	4,000	+400%
3	Mali	15,800	41,000	+159.5%
4	Malawi	6,800	15,000	+120.6%
5	Iraq	209,000	459,000	+119.6%
6	Papua New Guinea	1,900	4,000	+110.5%
7	Yemen, Rep.	20,000	40,000	+100%
8	Qatar	11,800	22,000	+86.4%
9	Jamaica	3,450	6,000	+73.9%
10	Latvia	5,310	9,000	+69.5%
11	Barbados	610	1,000	+63.9%
12	Turkmenistan	36,500	57,000	+56.2%
13	Bahamas, The	1,300	2,000	+53.8%
14	Timor-Leste	1,330	2,000	+50.4%
15	Cameroon	23,400	34,000	+45.3%
16	Belize	1,500	2,000	+33.3%
17	Lithuania	28,330	37,000	+30.6%
18	Venezuela, RB	265,000	343,000	+29.4%
19	Panama	22,050	28,000	+27%
20	Trinidad and Tobago	4,050	5,000	+23.5%
21	Benin	9,750	12,000	+23.1%
22	Honduras	18,700	23,000	+23%
23	Central African Republic	8,150	10,000	+22.7%
24	Sri Lanka	265,200	317,000	+19.5%
25	Hungary	38,500	46,000	+19.5%
26	Mauritius	2,550	3,000	+17.6%
27	Ukraine	256,000	298,000	+16.4%
28	Iran, Islamic Rep.	563,000	650,000	+15.5%
29	Fiji	3,500	4,000	+14.3%
30	Paraguay	25,450	29,000	+13.9%
31	Serbia	28,150	32,000	+13.7%
32	Slovak Republic	15,850	18,000	+13.6%
33	Chad	39,850	45,000	+12.9%
34	Saudi Arabia	251,500	282,000	+12.1%
35	New Zealand	8,950	10,000	+11.7%
36	Nigeria	200,000	223,000	+11.5%
37	Kuwait	22,600	25,000	+10.6%
38	India	2,798,800	3,068,000	+9.62%
39	Poland	172,700	189,000	+9.44%
40	Estonia	6,400	7,000	+9.38%
41	South Africa	82,150	89,000	+8.34%
42	Côte d'Ivoire	25,000	27,000	+8%
43	Croatia	18,550	20,000	+7.82%
44	Czechia	25,050	27,000	+7.78%
45	Austria	21,350	23,000	+7.73%
46	Togo	9,300	10,000	+7.53%
47	Canada	67,500	72,000	+6.67%
48	Korea, Dem. People's Rep.	1,379,000	1,469,000	+6.53%
49	Sierra Leone	8,500	9,000	+5.88%
50	Guinea	12,300	13,000	+5.69%
51	Namibia	15,200	16,000	+5.26%
52	Bosnia and Herzegovina	10,500	11,000	+4.76%
53	Gabon	6,700	7,000	+4.48%
54	Brazil	729,500	762,000	+4.46%
55	Tajikistan	16,300	17,000	+4.29%
56	Chile	109,450	114,000	+4.16%
57	Australia	57,800	60,000	+3.81%
58	United States	1,347,300	1,395,000	+3.54%
59	Ghana	15,500	16,000	+3.23%
60	Germany	177,300	183,000	+3.21%
61	Suriname	1,940	2,000	+3.09%
62	Ecuador	40,750	42,000	+3.07%
63	Kyrgyz Republic	20,400	21,000	+2.94%
64	Mongolia	17,500	18,000	+2.86%
65	Algeria	317,200	326,000	+2.77%
66	Bangladesh	220,950	227,000	+2.74%
67	North Macedonia	15,600	16,000	+2.56%
68	Senegal	18,600	19,000	+2.15%
69	Costa Rica	9,800	10,000	+2.04%
70	Cyprus	12,750	13,000	+1.96%
71	Madagascar	21,600	22,000	+1.85%
72	Malaysia	133,600	136,000	+1.8%
73	Mexico	336,050	341,000	+1.47%
74	El Salvador	41,500	42,000	+1.2%
75	Pakistan	935,800	943,000	+0.769%
76	Mauritania	20,850	21,000	+0.719%
77	Kazakhstan	70,500	71,000	+0.709%
78	Cuba	75,500	76,000	+0.662%
79	Japan	259,800	261,000	+0.462%
80	Jordan	115,500	116,000	+0.433%
81	United Kingdom	152,350	153,000	+0.427%
82	Tunisia	47,800	48,000	+0.418%
83	Zimbabwe	50,800	51,000	+0.394%
84	Djibouti	12,950	13,000	+0.386%
85	Norway	24,950	25,000	+0.2%
86	Eritrea	201,750	202,000	+0.124%
87	Thailand	454,550	455,000	+0.099%
88	Morocco	245,800	246,000	+0.081%
89	Indonesia	675,500	676,000	+0.074%
90	Azerbaijan	81,950	82,000	+0.061%
91	Egypt, Arab Rep.	835,500	836,000	+0.06%
92	Greece	146,950	147,000	+0.034%

About the top 10

#1 Haiti

Haiti ranks #1 on this list with +733.3%.

Capital: Port-au-Prince
Continent: North America
Income group: Lower middle income
Population: 11.91 million people (2025)
GDP: US$32.08 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$2,694 (2025)
Life expectancy: 65.1 years (2024)
Urban population: 55.6% of population (2025)

Also ranks #2 in prevalence of undernourishment · #4 in time to start a business (days) · #7 in homicide rate.

Full country profile

#2 Gambia, The

Gambia, The ranks #2 on this list with +400%.

Capital: Banjul
Continent: Africa
Income group: Low income
Population: 2.82 million people (2025)
GDP: US$2.59 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$919.1 (2025)
Life expectancy: 66.1 years (2024)
Urban population: 65% of population (2025)

Also ranks #2 in gender parity index (school enrolment) · #3 in arable land share · #7 in gross capital formation rate.

Full country profile

#3 Mali

Mali ranks #3 on this list with +159.5%.

Capital: Bamako
Continent: Africa
Income group: Low income
Population: 25.2 million people (2025)
GDP: US$30.07 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$1,193 (2025)
Life expectancy: 60.7 years (2024)
Urban population: 32.2% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Bamako.

Also ranks #6 in population ages 0-14 share · #6 in age dependency ratio · #6 in age dependency ratio (young).

Full country profile

#4 Malawi

Malawi ranks #4 on this list with +120.6%.

Capital: Lilongwe
Continent: Africa
Income group: Low income
Population: 22.22 million people (2025)
GDP: US$14.92 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$671.5 (2025)
Life expectancy: 67.6 years (2024)
Urban population: 17.6% of population (2025)

Also ranks #3 in school enrolment (primary) · #3 in pupil-teacher ratio (primary) · #3 in poverty headcount ratio.

Full country profile

#5 Iraq

Iraq ranks #5 on this list with +119.6%.

Capital: Baghdad
Continent: Asia
Income group: Upper middle income
Population: 47.02 million people (2025)
GDP: US$254.37 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$5,410 (2025)
Life expectancy: 72.4 years (2024)
Urban population: 69.9% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Baghdad, Mosul, Basra.

Also ranks #2 in natural resource rents share of gdp · #2 in oil rents share of gdp · #9 in industry value added share of gdp.

Full country profile

#6 Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea ranks #6 on this list with +110.5%.

Capital: Port Moresby
Continent: Oceania
Income group: Lower middle income
Population: 10.76 million people (2025)
GDP: US$32.5 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$3,020 (2025)
Life expectancy: 66.3 years (2024)
Urban population: 15.8% of population (2025)

Also ranks #2 in rural population share · #5 in water resources per capita · #6 in smoking prevalence.

Full country profile

#7 Yemen, Rep.

Yemen, Rep. ranks #7 on this list with +100%.

Capital: Sanaa, Aden
Continent: Asia
Income group: Low income
Population: 41.77 million people (2025)
Life expectancy: 69.4 years (2024)
Urban population: 37% of population (2025)
International tourist arrivals: 398,000 arrivals (2015)
CO2 emissions per person: 0.261 t CO2e per person (2024)

Largest cities: Sanaa, Aden.

Also ranks #2 in prevalence of stunting (under-5) · #2 in prevalence of wasting (under-5) · #12 in unemployment rate.

Full country profile

#8 Qatar

Qatar ranks #8 on this list with +86.4%.

Capital: Doha
Continent: Asia
Income group: High income
Population: 2.97 million people (2025)
GDP: US$215.56 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$72,525 (2025)
Life expectancy: 82.5 years (2024)
Urban population: 99.4% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Doha.

Also ranks #1 in male population share · #1 in population ages 15-64 share · #1 in labour force participation rate.

Full country profile

#9 Jamaica

Jamaica ranks #9 on this list with +73.9%.

Capital: Kingston
Continent: North America
Income group: Upper middle income
Population: 2.84 million people (2025)
GDP: US$22.71 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$8,003 (2025)
Life expectancy: 71.6 years (2024)
Urban population: 59.4% of population (2025)

Also ranks #3 in debt service share of exports · #4 in homicide rate · #6 in immunisation (dpt) rate.

Full country profile

#10 Latvia

Latvia ranks #10 on this list with +69.5%.

Capital: Riga
Continent: Europe
Income group: High income
Population: 1.85 million people (2025)
GDP: US$48.62 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$26,312 (2025)
Life expectancy: 76.4 years (2024)
Urban population: 68.6% of population (2025)

Also ranks #3 in alcohol consumption per capita · #4 in death rate · #6 in female population share.

Full country profile

Profile facts: World Bank (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata (CC0); weather links go to Purr Weather, another ChowChow Labs site.

Source and method

Change in Armed forces personnel over the five years to each country's latest year, as a percentage of the earlier value. Only countries that rose are listed.

Source: The World Bank, indicator MS.MIL.TOTL.P1. Licence: CC BY 4.0. Retrieved: 2026-11-14.

The World Bank: Armed forces personnel, total: The Military Balance, International Institute for Strategic Studies (via World Development Indicators)

Original data provider, as recorded by the World Bank: The Military Balance, International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Values are shown as published (changes are computed from the published values). Provider terms: The World Bank. All licences: Sources & licences.

Summary

Full ranking

About the top 10

#1 Haiti

#2 Gambia, The

#3 Mali

#4 Malawi

#5 Iraq

#6 Papua New Guinea

#7 Yemen, Rep.

#8 Qatar

#9 Jamaica

#10 Latvia

Related rankings

Source and method