Military profile
Italy Military Strength
Italy ranks #10 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 170,000 active personnel. It spent $48.1 billion on its military in 2025 (1.9% of GDP).
Italy armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 170,000#30 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 20,000#60 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 107,000#21 of 145
- Army personnel
- 100,000#35 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 45,000#14 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 31,000#22 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 850#13 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 92#23 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 84#9 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 404#9 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 58#10 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 197#62 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 68#47 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 108#62 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 21#73 of 145
Naval power
- Aircraft carriers
- 2#2 of 113
- Destroyers
- 4#10 of 113
- Frigates
- 13#5 of 113
- Corvettes
- 0#47 of 113
- Submarines
- 8#14 of 113
- Patrol vessels
- 18#54 of 113
- Mine warfare vessels
- 10#14 of 113
Finance
- Military spending
- $48.1 billion#12 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 1.9%#71 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $2.32 trillion#12 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Italy military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of Italy grew by 50% between 2010 and 2025, from $32.0 billion to $48.1 billion (current US dollars), and stood at 1.9% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of Italy
Branches and forces
Italian Armed Forces (Forze Armate Italiane): Army (Esercito Italiano, EI), Navy (Marina Militare Italiana, MMI; includes aviation, marines), Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare Italiana, AMI); Carabinieri Corps (Arma dei Carabinieri, CC) (2025)
Personnel
approximately 170,000 active-duty military personnel; approximately 105,000 Carabinieri (2025)
Service age and conscription
17 or 18 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women ; voluntary service is a minimum of 12 months with the option to extend in the Armed Forces or compete for positions in other government security organizations; conscription abolished 2004 (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the military's inventory includes a mix of domestically manufactured, imported, and jointly produced weapons systems; imports come mostly from Europe and the US; the Italian defense industry is capable of producing equipment across all the military domains with particular strengths in aircraft, armored vehicles, and naval vessels; it also participates in joint development and production of advanced weapons systems with other European countries and the US (2025)
Deployments abroad
Italy has on average about 8,000 military personnel deployed in support of NATO, UN, and other foreign missions; significant ground troop deployments include Bulgaria (750), Hungary (250), Kosovo (870), Latvia (300), and Lebanon (875); in addition, air and naval units are deployed in support of NATO missions (2025)
Good to know
the Italian military is responsible for Italy’s national defense and security and fulfilling the country’s commitments to the EU, NATO, the UN, and other multinational military, security, and humanitarian operations; it also has some domestic security duties; key areas of emphasis for Italy’s security policy and multinational cooperation are Europe’s eastern and southern flanks, including the Mediterranean Sea, East and North Africa, and the Middle East and its adjacent waters Italy has been an active member of NATO since its founding in 1948, and the Alliance is a cornerstone of Rome’s national security strategy; it is one of NATO’s leading contributors of military forces and participates in such Alliance missions as Air Policing in the Baltics, the Enhanced Forward Presence in Eastern Europe, and maritime patrols in the Mediterranean and beyond; it hosts NATO’s Joint Force Command in Naples and a NATO Rapid Deployable Corps headquarters in Milan Italy is also active in European/EU defense cooperation and integration, including hosting the headquarters for the EU’s Mediterranean naval operations force in Rome; in addition, Italy has close defense ties with the US and hosts several US military air, army, and naval bases and facilities (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2025: 2% · 2024: 1.5% · 2023: 1.5% · 2022: 1.5% · 2021: 1.5%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
Italy compared with its neighbours
| Country | Strength rank | Military spending |
|---|---|---|
| Italy | #10 | $48.1 billion |
 Switzerland | #44 | $7.6 billion |
 France | #9 | $68.0 billion |
 Austria | #84 | $6.4 billion |
 Slovenia | #86 | $1.2 billion |