Netherlands Military - 2021

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

Royal Netherlands Army, Royal Netherlands Navy (includes Naval Air Service and Marine Corps), Royal Netherlands Air Force, Royal Netherlands Marechaussee (Military Constabulary) (2021)

note: the Netherlands Coast Guard and the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard are civilian in nature, but managed by the Royal Netherlands Navy

Military expenditures

1.49% of GDP (2020 est.)

1.35% of GDP (2019)

1.22% of GDP (2018)

1.15% of GDP (2017)

1.16% of GDP (2016)

Military and security service personnel strengths

the Royal Netherlands Armed Forces have approximately 35,000 active duty personnel (15,000 Army; 7,500 Navy; 6,500 Air Force; 6,000 Constabulary) (2020)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the inventory of the Netherlands Armed Forces consists of a mix of domestically-produced and modern European- and US-sourced equipment; since 2010, the US is the leading supplier of weapons systems to the Netherlands, followed by several European countries; the Netherlands has an advanced domestic defense industry that focuses on armored vehicles, naval ships, and air defense systems; it also participates with the US and other European countries on joint development and production of advanced weapons systems (2020)

Military deployments

270 Lithuania (NATO) (2021)

Military service age and obligation

17 years of age for an all-volunteer force; conscription abolished in 1996 (2019)

Military - note

the Netherlands is a member of NATO and was one of the original 12 countries to sign the North Atlantic Treaty (also known as the Washington Treaty) in 1949

in 2018, the Defense Ministers of Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the creation of a Composite Special Operations Component Command (C-SOCC); the C-SOCC was declared operational in December 2020

NOTE: The information regarding Netherlands on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Netherlands 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Netherlands 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.