Which country - Spain or Suriname - 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.
● Which army is numerically bigger?
● Where is the military spending higher?
● Let’s compare the armies of Spain and Suriname by the combat power.
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 Spain and Suriname in 2025.
| Indicator | Spain | Suriname |
| The country’s population size | 47,89 million people | 640 thousand people |
| The number of citizens who are potentially fit for military service | 17 636 000 people | 84 100 people |
| The number of citizens who yearly reach military service age | 331 000 people | 3 200 people |
| The army size | 133 300 people | 2000 people |
ТThus, Spain leaves behind Suriname 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, Spain with its GDP of 2672 billion dollars (which was calculated by purchasing power parity) surpasses Suriname with its GDP of 13,9 billion dollars in times.
Spain and Suriname send 0,88 % and 1,04 % of GDP to the military expenses, respectively. As a result, the military budget of Spain is 23.4 billion dollars and of Suriname is 0.144 billion dollars.
Hence, the military expenses of Spain are times higher than in Suriname.
The comparison of armament up↑
In the table below there is the information about some types of armament which are at the disposal of Spain and Suriname (we account the total amount of weapons in 2025, without considering modifications, the year of release and departmental affiliation):
| The types of armament | Spain | Suriname |
| Planes | 461 | 3 |
| Military helicopters | 153 | 3 |
The comparison by the combat power index up↑
While contrasting the armed forces of Spain and Suriname 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:
● Spain - 17 position in the world according to the combat power index 0.3242; ● Suriname - 139 position in the world according to the combat power index 3.9127; Thus, according to the GlobalFirepower, the more combat-ready are the armed forces of Spain. Do you want to compare other countries? Fill them in the proper gaps and chose the criteria for comparison:
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