The largest armies in the world - in Vietnam, India and South Korea

Despite the fact that it is considered the largest military force in the world, the United States of America does not have the largest military by the number of personnel, according to GlobalFirepower.com estimates, taken by visualcapitalist.com.

The cited source shows that China has the largest standing army, with an active personnel of more than 2 million soldiers, and with the increase in defense spending in recent decades, the Asian country also ranks third in terms of the number of tanks and second by the number of aircraft carriers in service. However, if reserve personnel are included, the Chinese military lags behind those of Vietnam, India, South Korea and Russia.

Vietnam's forces include 600,000 active personnel and more than 5 million in reserve, the total being estimated at 5.8 million. This is because Vietnam, along with countries like South Korea and Israel, have a permanent policy of recruiting young adults. India ranks second with a total of 5.1 million, followed by South Korea - 3.8 million, Russia - 3.6 million, China - 3.2 million.

According to the quoted source, the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 led to a massive increase in the number of Ukrainian military personnel. Active personnel have grown from around 170,000 in 2016 to over 900,000, bringing the total to 2.2 million.

Despite not having the largest military (personnel - 2.1 million), the US accounts for almost 40% of global military spending, with these costs totaling $877 billion in 2022. China ranked second in absolute terms , representing 13% of world military spending at $292 billion.