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The army of which country – Saudi Arabia or Greece – is stronger?

Which country - Saudi Arabia or Greece - is military stronger? As it’s known, the basic components, which form the army strength and the state’s defense capability, are a) people b) money c) weapon. Let’s address each aspect.

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The armies’ comparison by the size

The army size directly depends on the country’s population and its mobilization potential. In the table below there is the information about human resources, mobilization potential and armed forces size of Saudi Arabia and Greece in 2025.

 Indicator   Saudi Arabia   Greece 
 The country’s population size   34,57 million people   9,94 million people 
 The number of citizens who are potentially fit for military service   17 468 000 people   3 986 000 people 
 The number of citizens who yearly reach military service age   611 000 people   105 000 people 
 The army size   257 000 people   142 700 people 

ТThus, Saudi Arabia leaves behind Greece by the number of soldiers in the service and by its mobilization potential.

Let’s note that the above mentioned data show only the quantitative characteristics without taking into account the professional level of military personnel and the quality (basic skills, physical condition, etc.) of the mobilized and conscripts.

It’s more difficult to estimate such parameters as motivation, combat spirit and soldier’s steadfastness, the ability and wish to perform their duties up to the end.

The comparison of military budgets    up

The military financing greatly depends on the country’s wealth – the stronger the economy is developed, the more finance can be allocated for the military expenses. As for the economy size, Saudi Arabia with its GDP of 2109 billion dollars (which was calculated by purchasing power parity) surpasses Greece with its GDP of 446 billion dollars in times.

Saudi Arabia and Greece send 3,55 % and 1,46 % of GDP to the military expenses, respectively. As a result, the military budget of Saudi Arabia is 74.8 billion dollars and of Greece is 6.5 billion dollars.

Hence, the military expenses of Saudi Arabia are times higher than in Greece.

The comparison of armament     up

In the table below there is the information about some types of armament which are at the disposal of Saudi Arabia and Greece (we account the total amount of weapons in 2025, without considering modifications, the year of release and departmental affiliation):

 The types of armament   Saudi Arabia   Greece 
 Planes   917   558 
 Military helicopters   264   293 
   including attack helicopters   34   29 
 Tanks   840   1344 
 Multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS)   321   152 
 Self-propelled guns (SPG)   332   589 
 Towered artillery   467   698 

Saudi Arabia and Greece have naval forces. The total displacement of the military fleet of Saudi Arabia is 28,9 thousand tons, Greece - 85,5 thousand tons.

The comparison by the combat power index    up

While contrasting the armed forces of Saudi Arabia and Greece one can orient on military strength ranking from GlobalFirepower (GFP). The GFP experts have analyzed more than 60 different factors which affect the defense ability of different countries and the effectiveness of their armed forces. As a result, they have calculated the combat power index. The lower it is, the stronger in the military sense the country is.

As of 2024, the countries under consideration take the following positions in GlobalFirepower rating:

Saudi Arabia - 24 position in the world according to the combat power index 0.4201;

Greece - 30 position in the world according to the combat power index 0.5337;

Thus, according to the GlobalFirepower, the more combat-ready are the armed forces of Saudi Arabia.

Do you want to compare other countries? Fill them in the proper gaps and chose the criteria for comparison:





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