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The army of which country – Libya or Lebanon – is stronger?

Which country - Libya or Lebanon - 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 Libya and Lebanon in 2025.

 Indicator   Libya   Lebanon 
 The country’s population size   7,46 million people   5,85 million people 
 The number of citizens who are potentially fit for military service   3 290 000 people   1 776 000 people 
 The number of citizens who yearly reach military service age   123 000 people   69 300 people 
 The army size   32 000 people   60 000 people 

So, Libya is inferior to Lebanon 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, Libya with its GDP of 103 billion dollars (which was calculated by purchasing power parity) surpasses Lebanon with its GDP of 63,2 billion dollars in times.

Libya and Lebanon send 2,97 % and 1,22 % of GDP to the military expenses, respectively. As a result, the military budget of Libya is 3.06 billion dollars and of Lebanon is 0.768 billion dollars.

Hence, the military expenses of Libya are times higher than in Lebanon.

The comparison of armament     up

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

 The types of armament   Libya   Lebanon 
 Planes   143   80 
 Military helicopters   16   68 
 Tanks   43   116 
 Multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS)   25   11 
 Self-propelled guns (SPG)   15   12 
 Towered artillery   28   353 

The comparison by the combat power index    up

While contrasting the armed forces of Libya and Lebanon 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:

Libya - 76 position in the world according to the combat power index 1.4449;

Lebanon - 115 position in the world according to the combat power index 2.5981;

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

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





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