Pakistan Military - 2021

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

Pakistan Army (includes National Guard), Pakistan Navy (includes marines, Maritime Security Agency), Pakistan Air Force (Pakistan Fizaia); Ministry of Interior paramilitary forces: Frontier Corps, Pakistan Rangers (2021)

note:  the National Guard is a paramilitary force and one of the Army's reserve forces, along with the Pakistan Army Reserve, the Frontier Corps, and the Pakistan Rangers

Military expenditures

4% of GDP (2019)

4.1% of GDP (2018)

3.8% of GDP (2017)

3.6% of GDP (2016)

3.6% of GDP (2015)

Military and security service personnel strengths

estimates of the size of the Pakistan military’s active force vary; approximately 640,000 active personnel (550,000 Army; 30,000 Navy; 60,000 Air Force) (2020)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the Pakistan military inventory includes a broad mix of equipment, primarily from China, France, Ukraine, the UK, and the US; since 2010, China and the US are the leading suppliers of arms to Pakistan; Pakistan also has a large domestic defense industry (2020)

Military deployments

1,240 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 1,950 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 150 Mali (MINUSMA); 900 Sudan (UNAMID) (Jan 2021)

Military service age and obligation

16-23 years of age for voluntary military service; soldiers cannot be deployed for combat until age 18; women serve in all three armed forces; reserve obligation to age 45 for enlisted men, age 50 for officers (2019)

Military - note

the military has carried out three coups since Pakistan's independence in 1947 and remains politically active

NOTE: The information regarding Pakistan 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 Pakistan 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Pakistan 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.