Armed Forces Share of Labor Force by Country 2020

About This Dataset

This chart ranks countries by armed forces personnel as a share of the total labor force in 2020, measuring how much of a nation's working population serves in the military rather than the civilian economy.

✨ AI Insight

Eritrea leads with 13.3% of its entire labor force in the armed forces, meaning roughly one in eight workers is a soldier, a consequence of indefinite national service that has driven mass emigration. North Korea follows on 8.6%, the only other country above 6%. The list is dominated by states shaped by conflict or conscription: Syria on 5.4%, Iraq on 4.4%, Israel on 4.2% and Lebanon on 4.1% all reflect prolonged instability in the Middle East. Djibouti's 5.4% is different, reflecting a tiny labor force alongside a strategically vital location. This measure captures the human cost of militarisation in a way spending figures cannot: every percentage point represents workers absent from productive civilian jobs.

Source: World Bank (International Institute for Strategic Studies)

Key Findings

Auto-computed highlights from this dataset

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Eritrea leads with 13 in 2020.

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Average value in 2020: 6 · median: 5.

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Gap in 2020: Eritrea is 3.3× larger than Jordan.