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The army of which country – Bahrain or Italy – is stronger?

Which country - Bahrain or Italy - 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 Bahrain and Italy in 2025.

 Indicator   Bahrain   Italy 
 The country’s population size   1643,3 thousand people   59,15 million people 
 The number of citizens who are potentially fit for military service    721 000 people   22 191 000 people 
 The number of citizens who yearly reach military service age   17 100 people   549 000 people 
 The army size   18400 people   165 500 people 

Thus, Bahrain is inferior to Italy in the number of soldiers in service as well as in 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, Italy with its GDP of 3607 billion dollars (which was calculated by purchasing power parity) surpasses Bahrain with its GDP of 107 billion dollars in times.

Bahrain and Italy send 1,5 % and 0,86 % of GDP to the military expenses, respectively. As a result, the military budget of Bahrain is 1.6 billion dollars and of Italy is 30.9 billion dollars.

Hence, the military expenses of Italy are times higher than in Bahrain.

The comparison of armament     up

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

 The types of armament   Bahrain   Italy 
 Planes   132   729 
 Military helicopters   80   392 
   including attack helicopters   34   37 
 Tanks   150   200 
 Multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS)   17   21 
 Self-propelled guns (SPG)   38   64 
 Towered artillery   26   108 

The comparison by the combat power index    up

While contrasting the armed forces of Bahrain and Italy 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:

Bahrain - 81 position in the world according to the combat power index 1.7448;

Italy - 10 position in the world according to the combat power index 0.2164;

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

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





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