Military profile
New Zealand Military Strength
New Zealand ranks #103 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 9,600 active personnel. It spent $2.9 billion on its military in 2025 (1.1% of GDP).
New Zealand armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 9,600#123 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 2,500#81 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 0#113 of 145
- Army personnel
- 7,500#122 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 3,000#93 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 3,000#69 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 45#95 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
- 0#115 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 0#96 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 31#90 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
- 4#93 of 113
- Mine warfare vessels
- 0#53 of 113
Finance
- Military spending
- $2.9 billion#57 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 1.1%#107 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $215.6 billion#64 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
New Zealand military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of New Zealand grew by 63% between 2010 and 2025, from $1.8 billion to $2.9 billion (current US dollars), and stood at 1.1% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of New Zealand
Branches and forces
New Zealand Defense Force (NZDF): New Zealand Army, Royal New Zealand Navy, Royal New Zealand Air Force (2025)
Personnel
approximately 8,800 active (Regular Force) New Zealand Defense Forces (4,300 Army; 2,100 Navy; 2,400 Air Force) (2025)
Service age and conscription
17 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; soldiers cannot be deployed until the age of 18; no conscription (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the NZDF's inventory is comprised of domestically produced and Western-supplied weapons and equipment, including from Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US (2025)
Deployments abroad
small numbers of NZ military personnel are deployed on a variety of international missions in Africa, Antarctica, the Asia-Pacific region, and the Middle East (2025)
Good to know
the NZDF is responsible for protecting New Zealand’s sovereignty, promoting its interests, safeguarding peace and security, and conducting peacekeeping, humanitarian, and other international missions New Zealand is a member of the Five Powers Defense Arrangements (FPDA), a series of mutual assistance agreements reached in 1971 embracing Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the UK; the FPDA commits the members to consult with one another in the event or threat of an armed attack on any of the members and to mutually decide what measures should be taken, jointly or separately; there is no specific obligation to intervene militarily New Zealand has been part of the Australia, New Zealand, and US Security (ANZUS) Treaty since 1951; however, the US suspended its ANZUS security obligations to New Zealand in 1986 after Auckland implemented a policy barring nuclear-armed and nuclear-powered warships from its ports; the US and New Zealand signed the Wellington Declaration in 2010, which reaffirmed close ties between the two countries, and in 2012 signed the Washington Declaration, which provided a framework for future security cooperation and defense dialogues; in 2016, a US naval ship conducted the first bilateral warship visit to New Zealand since the 1980s; New Zealand has Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) status with the US, a designation under US law that provides foreign partners with certain benefits in the areas of defense trade and security cooperation (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2024: 1.2% · 2023: 1.3% · 2022: 1.3% · 2021: 1.3% · 2020: 1.5%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).