Military profile
Hungary Military Strength
Hungary ranks #54 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 23,000 active personnel. It spent $5.0 billion on its military in 2025 (2.0% of GDP).
Hungary armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 23,000#94 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 20,000#60 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 12,000#61 of 145
- Army personnel
- 32,000#84 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 6,000#68 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 0#113 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 57#88 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 12#72 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 0#65 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 35#74 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 8#53 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 176#69 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 10#85 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 295#41 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 0#98 of 145
Finance
- Military spending
- $5.0 billion#49 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 2.0%#58 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $300.3 billion#53 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Hungary military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of Hungary grew by 270% between 2010 and 2025, from $1.4 billion to $5.0 billion (current US dollars), and stood at 2.0% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of Hungary
Branches and forces
Hungarian Defense Forces (HDF or Magyar Honvédség): the HDF is organized as a joint force under a general staff with commands for land, air, cyber, special operations, territorial defense, and support forces (2025)
Personnel
approximately 30,000 active-duty military personnel (2025)
Service age and conscription
18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription (abolished 2005) (2026)
Equipment and suppliers
the HDF has a mix of Soviet-era and more modern, NATO-compatible arms from such countries as Germany, France, Norway, Sweden, Türkiye, and the US; in 2017, Budapest launched a modernization program aimed at replacing its Soviet-era weaponry with modern systems; Hungary has also placed emphasis on building up its defense industrial capacity (2025)
Deployments abroad
250 Bosnia-Herzegovina (EUFOR stabilization force); 200 Chad; 470 Kosovo (NATO/KFOR) (2025)
Good to know
the Hungarian Defense Forces (HDF) are responsible for ensuring the defense of the country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and citizens, and fulfilling Hungary’s commitments to the EU and NATO, as well as contributing to other international peacekeeping efforts under the UN; key areas of concern for the HDF the HDF is also responsible for some aspects of domestic security, crisis management, disaster response, and assisting law enforcement forces in border security Hungary has been a member of NATO since 1999 and considers the collective defense ensured within the Alliance as a cornerstone of the country’s security; NATO membership is complemented by Hungary’s ties to the EU under its Common Security and Defense Policy; the HDF has participated in multiple NATO-led security missions, including in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kosovo, as well as EU-led missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Mali; it hosts a NATO battlegroup comprised of troops from Croatia, Hungary, Italy, and the US, and NATO’s Multinational Division Center, a headquarters capable of commanding a division-sized force (typically 15-20,000 troops) in a crisis; both organizations were established as a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine; Hungary is a member of the Visegrad Group, a regional platform that brings together Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia to discuss cultural, defense, and political cooperation (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2025: 2.1% · 2024: 2.1% · 2023: 2.1% · 2022: 1.8% · 2021: 1.7%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
Slovakia
Romania
Croatia
Austria
Serbia
Ukraine
Slovenia