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

Which country - Saudi Arabia or Ukraine - 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 Ukraine in 2025.

 Indicator   Saudi Arabia   Ukraine 
 The country’s population size   34,57 million people   29 million people 
 The number of citizens who are potentially fit for military service   17 468 000 people   12 731 000 people 
 The number of citizens who yearly reach military service age   611 000 people   476 000 people 
 The army size   257 000 people   900 000 people 

So, Saudi Arabia is inferior to Ukraine by the number of soldiers in service, although it surpasses by the 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 Ukraine with its GDP of 659 billion dollars in times.

Saudi Arabia and Ukraine send 3,55 % and 8,15 % of GDP to the military expenses, respectively. As a result, the military budget of Saudi Arabia is 74.8 billion dollars and of Ukraine is 53.7 billion dollars.

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

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 Ukraine (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   Ukraine 
 Planes   917   324 
 Military helicopters   264   136 
   including attack helicopters   34   39 
 Tanks   840   1114 
 Multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS)   321   279 
 Self-propelled guns (SPG)   332   658 
 Towered artillery   467   615 

The comparison by the combat power index    up

While contrasting the armed forces of Saudi Arabia and Ukraine 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;

Ukraine - 20 position in the world according to the combat power index 0.3755;

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

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





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