Italy vs Spain: Military personnel as a share of total population

Italy
0.3%
in 2022
Spain
0.3%
in 2022
Italy rank
88th
Spain rank
90th

Military personnel as a share of total population over time

  • Italy
  • Spain
02468181619192022

How they compare

Italy currently reports 0.3% against 0.3% in Spain, a difference of 0.0%.

The two have swapped places 31 times across 206 shared years of data; in 1816 it was Spain ahead.

Italy ranks 88th and Spain ranks 90th of 194 countries.

Across the 22 decades both report, Italy averaged higher in 15 and Spain in 7.

Head to head by decade

Decade Italy Spain Difference Ahead
1810s 0.9% 1.1% 0.2% Spain
1820s 0.8% 1.0% 0.2% Spain
1830s 0.8% 0.7% 0.0% Italy
1840s 0.8% 0.8% 0.1% Italy
1850s 1.0% 0.7% 0.3% Italy
1860s 1.0% 0.7% 0.3% Italy
1870s 0.7% 0.7% 0.0% Italy
1880s 0.7% 0.9% 0.2% Spain
1890s 0.8% 0.8% 0.0% Italy
1900s 0.8% 0.6% 0.2% Italy
1910s 4.5% 0.8% 3.6% Italy
1920s 1.0% 0.8% 0.2% Italy
1930s 1.2% 1.2% 0.0% Italy
1940s 2.2% 1.8% 0.4% Italy
1950s 0.6% 1.7% 1.0% Spain
1960s 0.9% 1.1% 0.3% Spain
1970s 0.9% 1.0% 0.2% Spain
1980s 0.9% 0.9% 0.0% Italy
1990s 0.8% 0.5% 0.2% Italy
2000s 0.4% 0.4% 0.0% Spain
2010s 0.3% 0.3% 0.0% Italy
2020s 0.3% 0.3% 0.0% Italy

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher military personnel as a share of total population, Italy or Spain?
Italy, at 0.3% against 0.3% in Spain as of 2022.
What is the difference in military personnel as a share of total population between Italy and Spain?
0.0%, with Italy ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Italy and Spain?
206 years are reported by both, from 1816 to 2022.
How do Italy and Spain rank globally for military personnel as a share of total population?
Italy ranks 88th and Spain ranks 90th of 194 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Correlates of War - National Material Capabilities Version 7.0 (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Military personnel as a share of total population. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Italy vs Spain: Military personnel as a share of total population. Statizoid, drawing on Correlates of War - National Material Capabilities Version 7.0 (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 06 September 2026, from https://population.statizoid.com/compare/military-personnel-as-a-share-of-total-population/italy/spain/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://population.statizoid.com/compare/military-personnel-as-a-share-of-total-population/italy/spain/">Italy vs Spain: Military personnel as a share of total population</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Military personnel as a share of total population
Unit
%
Source
Correlates of War - National Material Capabilities Version 7.0 (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
194 places, 15,765 data points, 1816–2022
Last refreshed

Ratio of military personnel to total population, expressed as a percentage.