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

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

 Indicator   Laos   Mongolia 
 The country’s population size   7,87 million people   3,52 million people 
 The number of citizens who are potentially fit for military service   2 521 000 people   1 552 000 people 
 The number of citizens who yearly reach military service age   157 000 people   61 900 people 
 The army size   100 000 people   35 000 people 

ТThus, Laos leaves behind Mongolia 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, Laos with its GDP of 74,9 billion dollars (which was calculated by purchasing power parity) surpasses Mongolia with its GDP of 67,3 billion dollars in times.

Laos and Mongolia send 0,18 % and 0,25 % of GDP to the military expenses, respectively. As a result, the military budget of Laos is 0.135 billion dollars and of Mongolia is 0.165 billion dollars.

Hence, the military expenses of Mongolia 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 Laos and Mongolia (we account the total amount of weapons in 2025, without considering modifications, the year of release and departmental affiliation):

 The types of armament   Laos   Mongolia 
 Planes   33   7 
 Military helicopters   23   2 
 Tanks   160   420 
 Multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS)   64   130 
 Towered artillery   87   500 

The comparison by the combat power index    up

While contrasting the armed forces of Laos and Mongolia 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:

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

Mongolia - 98 position in the world according to the combat power index 2.1135;

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

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





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