Military profile
Afghanistan Military Strength
Afghanistan ranks #114 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking. It spent $278 million on its military in 2021 (1.8% of GDP).
Afghanistan armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 0#143 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 0#84 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 60,000#29 of 145
- Army personnel
- 0#144 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 0#138 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 0#113 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 0#141 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 0#95 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 0#65 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 0#138 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 0#79 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 0#115 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 0#96 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 60#76 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 13#83 of 145
Finance
- Military spending
- $278 million#117 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 1.8%#76 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $18.0 billion#136 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Afghanistan military spending 2010–2021
Military spending of Afghanistan fell by 7% between 2010 and 2021, from $298 million to $278 million (current US dollars), and stood at 1.8% of GDP in 2021.
Armed forces of Afghanistan
Branches and forces
the Taliban claims authority over a Ministry of Defense and a National Army (aka Army of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Islamic Emirate Army, or Afghan Army); it has also formed police forces under a Ministry of Interior (2025)
Personnel
the Taliban claims to have 190,000 under the Ministry of Defense and 215,000 under the Ministry of Interior (2025)
Service age and conscription
service is voluntary; there is no conscription (2023)
Equipment and suppliers
the Taliban military and security forces are equipped with armaments captured in 2021 from the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces, which were largely equipped with Russian/Soviet-era and US material (2025)
Good to know
the Taliban's key security priorities are border and internal security; specific issues have included tensions with Pakistan along their shared border, armed anti-Taliban resistance elements, and the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham - Khorasan (ISIS-K) terrorist group (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2019: 3.3% · 2018: 3.2% · 2017: 3.3% · 2016: 3.1% · 2015: 2.9%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
Afghanistan compared with its neighbours
| Country | Strength rank | Military spending |
|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | #114 | $278 million |
 Pakistan | #7 | $11.9 billion |
 Tajikistan | #120 | $247 million |
 Iran | #17 | $7.4 billion |
 Turkmenistan | #82 | — |
 Uzbekistan | #62 | — |
 China | #3 | $335.5 billion |