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The army of which country – Belarus or Laos – is stronger?

Which country - Belarus or Laos - 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 Belarus and Laos in 2025.

 Indicator   Belarus   Laos 
 The country’s population size   9 million people   7,87 million people 
 The number of citizens who are potentially fit for military service   3 725 000 people   2 521 000 people 
 The number of citizens who yearly reach military service age   103 000 people   157 000 people 
 The army size   63 000 people   100 000 people 

So, Belarus is inferior to Laos 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, Belarus with its GDP of 296 billion dollars (which was calculated by purchasing power parity) surpasses Laos with its GDP of 74,9 billion dollars in times.

Belarus and Laos send 0,36 % and 0,18 % of GDP to the military expenses, respectively. As a result, the military budget of Belarus is 1.08 billion dollars and of Laos is 0.135 billion dollars.

Hence, the military expenses of Belarus are times higher than in Laos.

The comparison of armament     up

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

 The types of armament   Belarus   Laos 
 Planes   185   33 
 Military helicopters   68   23 
 Tanks   507   160 
 Multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS)   206   64 
 Self-propelled guns (SPG)   357   40 
 Towered artillery   215   87 

The comparison by the combat power index    up

While contrasting the armed forces of Belarus and Laos 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:

Belarus - 70 position in the world according to the combat power index 1.3954;

Laos - 106 position in the world according to the combat power index 2.2663;

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

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





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