Armed forces personnel in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)
Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income): Armed forces personnel was 0.9% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Armed forces personnel in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income), 1990–2020
Source: The Military Balance, International Institute for Strategic Studies. Measured in % of total labor force.
Analysis
Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) recorded 0.9% for armed forces personnel in 2020.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 4.2% on the previous year and up 4.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, armed forces personnel in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) peaked at 1.0% in 1996 and was at its lowest, 0.7%, in 1994.
Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) ranks 15th of 46 groups on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 31 years of available data.
Armed forces personnel in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income), year by year
| Year | % of total labor force | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 0.9% | — |
| 1991 | 0.9% | -4.0% |
| 1992 | 0.8% | -11.0% |
| 1993 | 0.7% | -2.9% |
| 1994 | 0.7% | -6.2% |
| 1995 | 1.0% | +48.6% |
| 1996 | 1.0% | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 1.0% | -4.0% |
| 1998 | 1.0% | -3.7% |
| 1999 | 0.9% | -3.4% |
| 2000 | 0.9% | -0.6% |
| 2001 | 0.9% | -1.7% |
| 2002 | 0.9% | -1.9% |
| 2003 | 0.9% | -0.5% |
| 2004 | 0.8% | -3.1% |
| 2005 | 0.8% | -2.6% |
| 2006 | 0.9% | +14.1% |
| 2007 | 0.9% | -0.5% |
| 2008 | 0.9% | -2.2% |
| 2009 | 0.9% | -0.1% |
| 2010 | 0.9% | -2.4% |
| 2011 | 0.9% | -0.8% |
| 2012 | 0.9% | -0.9% |
| 2013 | 0.9% | -0.6% |
| 2014 | 0.9% | +4.5% |
| 2015 | 0.9% | -0.7% |
| 2016 | 0.9% | -0.9% |
| 2017 | 0.9% | +1.4% |
| 2018 | 0.9% | +0.5% |
| 2019 | 0.9% | -2.2% |
| 2020 | 0.9% | +4.2% |
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Armed forces personnel in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | +48.6% | 0.7% | 1.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.9% | 0.7% | 1.0% | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.9% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.9% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.9% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)
- 12 Sri Lanka 3.7% compare
- 13 Brunei Darussalam 3.6% compare
- 14 Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of 3.5% compare
- 15 Armenia 3.2% compare
- 16 Greece 3.2% compare
- 17 Belarus 3.2% compare
- 18 Turkmenistan 2.9% compare
More public sector data for Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)
- Arms imports 611.00 million SIPRI trend indicator values (2024)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), per capita 0.9814 SIPRI trend indicator values per person (2024)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), per unit of GDP 0.0001 SIPRI trend indicator values per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), annual growth rate 64.69 % change on previous year (2024)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), gaps filled 611.00 million SIPRI trend indicator values (2024)
- Military expenditure (current USD), per capita 106.17 current USD per person (2024)
- Military expenditure (current USD), per unit of GDP 0.0105 current USD per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Military expenditure (current USD), annual growth rate 12.04 % change on previous year (2024)
- Military expenditure (current USD), gaps filled 66.10 billion current USD (2024)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), per square kilometre 19.76 SIPRI trend indicator values per square kilometre (2023)
All data for Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) →
Frequently asked questions
- What is armed forces personnel in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)?
- Armed forces personnel in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) was 0.9% in 2020, according to The Military Balance, International Institute for Strategic Studies.
- What is the highest armed forces personnel recorded in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)?
- The highest recorded value was 1.0% in 1996.
- What is the lowest armed forces personnel recorded in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.7% in 1994.
- How does Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) rank for armed forces personnel?
- Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) ranks 15th out of 46 groups with data for 2020.
- Is armed forces personnel rising or falling in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)?
- Over the last ten years it is up 4.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) data come from?
- The figures come from The Military Balance, International Institute for Strategic Studies, published as part of Armed forces personnel (% of total labor force). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Armed forces personnel are active duty military personnel, including paramilitary forces if the training, organization, equipment, and control suggest they may be used to support or replace regular military forces. Labor force comprises all people who meet the International Labour Organization's definition of the economically active population.