Military profile
Belgium Military Strength
Belgium ranks #68 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 26,000 active personnel. It spent $14.5 billion on its military in 2025 (2.0% of GDP).
Belgium armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 26,000#85 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 7,000#74 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 0#113 of 145
- Army personnel
- 12,120#110 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 6,500#65 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 1,300#84 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 106#70 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 44#41 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 0#65 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 20#94 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 0#79 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 0#115 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 0#96 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 0#107 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 0#98 of 145
Naval power
- Aircraft carriers
- 0#8 of 113
- Destroyers
- 0#15 of 113
- Frigates
- 2#42 of 113
- Corvettes
- 0#47 of 113
- Submarines
- 0#44 of 113
- Patrol vessels
- 2#102 of 113
- Mine warfare vessels
- 5#26 of 113
Finance
- Military spending
- $14.5 billion#28 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 2.0%#64 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $560.0 billion#36 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Belgium military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of Belgium grew by 177% between 2010 and 2025, from $5.2 billion to $14.5 billion (current US dollars), and stood at 2.0% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of Belgium
Branches and forces
Belgian Armed Forces (Defensie or La Défense): Land Component, Marine (Naval) Component, Air Component, Medical Component, Cyber Command (2025)
Personnel
approximately 23,000 active-duty military personnel (2025)
Service age and conscription
18 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; maximum age varies by position; conscription abolished in 1995 (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the armed forces have a mix of weapons systems from European suppliers and the US; Belgium has an export-focused defense industry that focuses on components and subcontracting (2025)
Deployments abroad
has on average about 1,000 personnel deployed on foreign missions, including more than 300 ground forces deployed in Eastern Europe for the defense of NATO's eastern flank (2025)
Good to know
the Belgian military's responsibilities include territorial defense, humanitarian/disaster relief, assistance to the police if required, international peacekeeping missions, and support to its NATO and EU security commitments, which Belgium considers vital components of its national security policy; outside of the country, the military operates almost always within an international organization or a coalition; Belgium was one of the original 12 countries to sign the North Atlantic Treaty (also known as the Washington Treaty) establishing NATO in 1949; it hosts the NATO headquarters in Brussels; Belgium also cooperates bilaterally with neighboring countries, such as Luxembourg and the Netherlands, in conducting joint patrols of their respective air spaces and in a composite combined special operations command with Denmark and the Netherlands (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2025: 2% · 2024: 1.3% · 2023: 1.2% · 2022: 1.2% · 2021: 1.1%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
Belgium compared with its neighbours
| Country | Strength rank | Military spending |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium | #68 | $14.5 billion |
 France | #9 | $68.0 billion |
 Netherlands | #39 | $28.9 billion |
 Germany | #25 | $113.6 billion |
 Luxembourg | #126 | $855 million |