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The army of which country – Germany or Turkey – is stronger?

Which country - Germany or Turkey - 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 Germany and Turkey in 2025.

 Indicator   Germany   Turkey 
 The country’s population size   84,08 million people   87,69 million people 
 The number of citizens who are potentially fit for military service   30 956 000 people   36 087 000 people 
 The number of citizens who yearly reach military service age   842 000 people   1 421 000 people 
 The army size   181 600 people   355 200 people 

Thus, Germany is inferior to Turkey 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, Germany with its GDP of 6005 billion dollars (which was calculated by purchasing power parity) surpasses Turkey with its GDP of 3464 billion dollars in times.

Germany and Turkey send 0,83 % and 1,36 % of GDP to the military expenses, respectively. As a result, the military budget of Germany is 50 billion dollars and of Turkey is 47 billion dollars.

Hence, the military expenses of Germany are times higher than in Turkey.

The comparison of armament     up

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

 The types of armament   Germany   Turkey 
 Planes   584   1083 
 Military helicopters   309   508 
   including attack helicopters   54   111 
 Tanks   296   2238 
 Multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS)   33   296 
 Self-propelled guns (SPG)   134   1038 

Germany and Turkey have naval forces. The total displacement of the military fleet of Germany is 71,1 thousand tons, Turkey - 135,5 thousand tons.

The comparison by the combat power index    up

While contrasting the armed forces of Germany and Turkey 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:

Germany - 14 position in the world according to the combat power index 0.2601;

Turkey - 9 position in the world according to the combat power index 0.1902;

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

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





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