Taiwan Military - 2021

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

Taiwan Armed Forces: Army, Navy (includes Marine Corps), Air Force; Taiwan Coast Guard Administration (a law enforcement organization with homeland security functions during peacetime and national defense missions during wartime) (2021)

note - the Armed Forces also have Military Police and Armed Forces Reserve commands

Military expenditures

2.3% of GDP (2020 est.)

2.1% of GDP (2019)

1.8% of GDP (2018)

1.8% of GDP (2017)

1.8% of GDP (2016)

Military and security service personnel strengths

the Taiwan military has approximately 170,000 active duty troops (90,000 Army; 40,000 Navy, including approximately 10,000 marines; 40,000 Air Force) (2020)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the Taiwan military is armed mostly with second-hand weapons and equipment provided by the US; Taiwan also has a domestic defense industry capable of upgrading some weapons systems and building surface naval craft and submarines (2020)

Military service age and obligation

starting with those born in 1994, males 18-36 years of age may volunteer for military service or must complete 4 months of compulsory military training (or substitute civil service in some cases); men born before December 1993 are required to complete compulsory service for 1 year (military or civil); men are subject to training recalls up to four times for periods not to exceed 20 days for 8 years after discharge; women may enlist, but are restricted to noncombat roles in most cases; as part of its transition to an all-volunteer military in December 2018, the last cohort of one-year military conscripts completed their service obligations (2019)

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