Military profile
Bosnia and Herzegovina Military Strength
Bosnia and Herzegovina ranks #133 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 9,000 active personnel. It spent $231 million on its military in 2025 (0.7% of GDP).
Bosnia and Herzegovina armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 9,000#125 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 6,000#75 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 0#113 of 145
- Army personnel
- 13,000#106 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 2,100#102 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 0#113 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 22#114 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 0#95 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 0#65 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 22#89 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 0#79 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 124#76 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 10#85 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 10#100 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 98#40 of 145
Naval power
- Aircraft carriers
- 0#8 of 113
- Destroyers
- 0#15 of 113
- Frigates
- 0#56 of 113
- Corvettes
- 0#47 of 113
- Submarines
- 0#44 of 113
- Patrol vessels
- 0#106 of 113
- Mine warfare vessels
- 0#53 of 113
Finance
- Military spending
- $231 million#121 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 0.7%#135 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $48.0 billion#108 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Bosnia and Herzegovina military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of Bosnia and Herzegovina grew by 5% between 2010 and 2025, from $220 million to $231 million (current US dollars), and stood at 0.7% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Branches and forces
Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AFBiH or Oruzanih Snaga Bosne i Hercegovine, OSBiH): Army, Air, Air Defense forces organized into an Operations Command and a Support Command Ministry of Security: Border Police (2025)
Personnel
approximately 10,000 active duty Armed Forces (2025)
Service age and conscription
18 -27 years of age for voluntary military service; conscription ended in January 2006 (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the military's inventory of weapons and equipment is a combination of material originating from the former Soviet Union/former Yugoslavia and some newer acquisitions from suppliers such as Türkiye, the UK, and the US (2025)
Good to know
the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AFBiH) are responsible for territorial defense, providing assistance to civil authorities during disasters or other emergencies, and participating in collective security and peace support operations; each of the AFBiH's three combat brigades are headquartered inside of their respective ethnicity territory, while its main headquarters is in Sarajevo; Bosnia and Herzegovina aspires to join NATO; Bosnia and Herzegovina joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace (PfP) program in 2006 and was invited to join NATO’s Membership Action Plan in 2010; the AFBiH is undergoing a 10-year (2017-2027) defense modernization and reform program for preparing to join and integrate with NATO; it has contributed small numbers of troops to EU, NATO, and UN missions NATO maintains a military headquarters in Sarajevo with the mission of assisting Bosnia and Herzegovina with the PfP program and promoting closer integration with NATO, as well as providing logistics and other support to the EU Force Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUFOR), which has operated in the country to oversee implementation of the Dayton/Paris Agreement since taking over from NATO's Stabilization Force (SFOR) in 2004 (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2024: 0.8% · 2023: 0.8% · 2022: 0.8% · 2021: 0.9% · 2020: 0.9%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
Bosnia and Herzegovina compared with its neighbours
| Country | Strength rank | Military spending |
|---|---|---|
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | #133 | $231 million |
 Croatia | #69 | $2.1 billion |
 Serbia | #58 | $2.8 billion |
 Montenegro | #128 | $177 million |