Military Comparison

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Side-by-side military strength: active personnel, defense budgets, air force aircraft, and naval assets.

Nuclear Arsenal

Denmark
Denmark flag NON-NUCLEAR
0 WARHEADS
Finland
Finland flag NON-NUCLEAR
0 WARHEADS
Iceland
Iceland flag NON-NUCLEAR
0 WARHEADS
Norway
Norway flag NON-NUCLEAR
0 WARHEADS
Sweden
Sweden flag NON-NUCLEAR
0 WARHEADS
Estimated total warhead inventories — Federation of American Scientists / SIPRI

Defense Budget vs GDP

Historical defense spending and how it compares to each country's GDP. The % of GDP view normalises for economic size so smaller economies aren't drowned out by absolute dollar figures.

Defense Budget Over Time ($B)

Defense Budget as % of GDP

Source: World Bank Open Data API (MS.MIL.XPND.CD)

Military Active Personnel

Sweden
Sweden flag LARGEST
24K TROOPS
Finland
Finland flag 99.2% OF LARGEST
23.8K TROOPS
Norway
Norway flag 96.9% OF LARGEST
23.25K TROOPS
Denmark
Denmark flag 68.8% OF LARGEST
16.5K TROOPS
Iceland
Iceland flag 1.0% OF LARGEST
250 TROOPS
Sweden flag Sweden 24Ktroops
LARGEST
Finland flag Finland 23.8Ktroops
99.2% of largest
Norway flag Norway 23.25Ktroops
96.9% of largest
Denmark flag Denmark 16.5Ktroops
68.8% of largest
Iceland flag Iceland 250troops
1.0% of largest

Air Force Total Aircraft

Sweden
Sweden flag LARGEST
204 AIRCRAFT
Finland
Finland flag 95.1% OF LARGEST
194 AIRCRAFT
Norway
Norway flag 68.1% OF LARGEST
139 AIRCRAFT
Denmark
Denmark flag 55.4% OF LARGEST
113 AIRCRAFT
Iceland
Iceland flag 2.9% OF LARGEST
6 AIRCRAFT
Sweden flag Sweden 204aircraft
LARGEST
Finland flag Finland 194aircraft
95.1% of largest
Norway flag Norway 139aircraft
68.1% of largest
Denmark flag Denmark 113aircraft
55.4% of largest
Iceland flag Iceland 6aircraft
2.9% of largest

Land Forces — Detailed Metrics

Metric
Denmark flag Denmark
Finland flag Finland
Iceland flag Iceland
Norway flag Norway
Sweden flag Sweden
Active Personnel 16,500 23,800 250 23,250 24,000
Reserve Personnel 12,000 900,000 0 40,000 31,800
Total Military Personnel 28,500 923,800 250 63,250 55,800
Defense Budget (USD) $5,500,000,000 $5,800,000,000 $45,000,000 $8,300,000,000 $7,300,000,000
Tanks 44 200 0 52 120
Armored Vehicles 450 1,060 0 440 1,500
Self-Propelled Artillery 24 72 0 56 24
Towed Artillery 0 234 0 0 12
Rocket Projectors 12 75 0 12 0

Air Force — Detailed Metrics

Metric
Denmark flag Denmark
Finland flag Finland
Iceland flag Iceland
Norway flag Norway
Sweden flag Sweden
Total Aircraft 113 194 6 139 204
Fighters 33 62 0 57 96
Attack Aircraft 0 0 0 0 0
Transport Aircraft 30 22 4 12 8
Trainer Aircraft 27 62 0 16 50
Helicopters 23 48 2 54 50
Attack Helicopters 0 0 0 0 0

Naval Forces — Detailed Metrics

See economy, trade, demographics, and more for this comparison. View full Denmark vs Finland vs Iceland vs Norway vs Sweden comparison →
Data compiled from World Bank, IMF, Global Firepower, SIPRI, Numbeo, and Pew Research. Last updated June 2026. Sources & methodology