Military profile
Norway Military Strength
Norway ranks #35 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 23,000 active personnel. It spent $17.0 billion on its military in 2025 (3.3% of GDP).
Norway armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 23,000#94 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 0#84 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 40,000#37 of 145
- Army personnel
- 20,000#94 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 3,700#86 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 4,000#63 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 100#73 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 0#95 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 24#27 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 38#71 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 0#79 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 52#90 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 57#51 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 0#107 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 12#85 of 145
Naval power
- Aircraft carriers
- 0#8 of 113
- Destroyers
- 0#15 of 113
- Frigates
- 4#36 of 113
- Corvettes
- 6#16 of 113
- Submarines
- 6#17 of 113
- Patrol vessels
- 17#56 of 113
- Mine warfare vessels
- 6#22 of 113
Finance
- Military spending
- $17.0 billion#23 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 3.3%#22 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $342.1 billion#51 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Norway military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of Norway grew by 162% between 2010 and 2025, from $6.5 billion to $17.0 billion (current US dollars), and stood at 3.3% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of Norway
Branches and forces
Norwegian Armed Forces (Forsvaret or "the Defense"): Norwegian Army (Haeren), Royal Norwegian Navy (Kongelige Norske Sjoeforsvaret; includes Coastal Rangers and Coast Guard (Kystvakt)), Royal Norwegian Air Force (Kongelige Norske Luftforsvaret), Home Guard (Heimevernet, HV) (2025)
Personnel
approximately 27,000 active military personnel; approximately 40,000 Home Guard (2025)
Service age and conscription
17 (men) or 18 (women) for voluntary military service; all Norwegian citizens 19-44 are subject to selective compulsory military service; 19-month service obligation for those selected (12 months plus 4-5 refresher training periods) (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the military has an inventory of modern, domestically produced and imported Western European and US armaments; Norway's defense industry participates in joint development and production of weapons systems with other European countries (2025)
Deployments abroad
around 100 Lithuania (NATO); Norway also deploys air and naval assets in support of other NATO operations (2025)
Good to know
the Norwegian Armed Forces (Forsvaret) are responsible for protecting Norway and its allies, including monitoring Norway’s airspace, digital, land, and maritime areas, maintaining the country’s borders and sovereignty, contributing to NATO and UN missions, and providing support to civil society, such as assisting the police, search and rescue, and maritime counterterrorism efforts; the military’s territorial and sovereignty defense missions are complicated by Norway’s vast sea areas, numerous islands, long and winding fjords, and difficult and mountainous terrain; a key area of emphasis is its far northern border with Russia Norway is one of the original members of NATO, and the Alliance is a key component of Norway’s defense policy; the Forsvaret participates in NATO exercises, missions, and operations, including air policing of NATO territory, NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence mission in the Baltic States and Eastern Europe, and standing naval missions, as well as operations in non-NATO areas, such as the Middle East the Forsvaret also cooperates closely with the militaries of other Nordic countries through the Nordic Defense Cooperation (NORDEFCO; established 2009), which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden; Norway contributes to the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force, a pool of high-readiness military forces from 10 Baltic and Scandinavian countries designed to respond to a wide range of contingencies in the High North, North Atlantic, and Baltic Sea regions; Norway has close military ties with the US, including rotational US military deployments and an agreement allowing for mutual defense activities and US military forces to access some Norwegian facilities the Forsvaret's origins go back to the leidangen, defense forces which were established along the coastline in the 10th century to protect the Norwegian coast (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2025: 3.4% · 2024: 2.3% · 2023: 1.8% · 2022: 1.5% · 2021: 1.7%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
Sweden
Finland
Russia