Italy vs South Korea Military Comparison
Side-by-side military strength: active personnel, defense budgets, air force aircraft, and naval assets.
Italy
200K active troops
$30B budget
VS
South Korea
600K active troops
$50B budget
200
Tanks
2,321
3,500
Armored Vehicles
3,100
159
Artillery
3,536
21
Rocket Systems
600
96
Fighter Jets
406
354
Helicopters
833
143
Warships
234
8
Submarines
22
Nuclear Arsenal
Italy
NON-NUCLEAR
0
WARHEADS
South Korea
NON-NUCLEAR
0
WARHEADS
Estimated total warhead inventories — Federation of American Scientists / SIPRI
Defense Budget vs GDP
Historical defense spending and how it compares to each country's GDP. The % of GDP view normalises for economic size so smaller economies aren't drowned out by absolute dollar figures.
Defense Budget Over Time ($B)
Defense Budget as % of GDP
Source: World Bank Open Data API (MS.MIL.XPND.CD)
Military Active Personnel
South Korea
LARGEST
555K
TROOPS
Italy
30.6% OF LARGEST
170K
TROOPS
South Korea has 3.26× the active personnel of Italy
Air Force Total Aircraft
South Korea
LARGEST
1.58K
AIRCRAFT
Italy
54.5% OF LARGEST
862
AIRCRAFT
South Korea has 1.83× the aircraft of Italy
Total Naval Assets
Land Forces — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
Italy
|
South Korea
|
|---|---|---|
| Active Personnel | 170,000 | 555,000 |
| Reserve Personnel | 18,300 | 3,100,000 |
| Total Military Personnel | 188,300 | 3,655,000 |
| Defense Budget (USD) | $29,800,000,000 | $46,700,000,000 |
| Tanks | 200 | 2,321 |
| Armored Vehicles | 3,500 | 3,100 |
| Self-Propelled Artillery | 89 | 1,836 |
| Towed Artillery | 70 | 1,700 |
| Rocket Projectors | 21 | 600 |
Air Force — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
Italy
|
South Korea
|
|---|---|---|
| Total Aircraft | 862 | 1,581 |
| Fighters | 96 | 406 |
| Attack Aircraft | 58 | 0 |
| Transport Aircraft | 87 | 49 |
| Trainer Aircraft | 186 | 293 |
| Helicopters | 354 | 833 |
| Attack Helicopters | 59 | 112 |
Naval Forces — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
Italy
|
South Korea
|
|---|---|---|
| Total Naval Assets | 143 | 234 |
| Aircraft Carriers | 2 | 1 |
| Destroyers | 4 | 12 |
| Frigates | 10 | 13 |
| Corvettes | 0 | 34 |
| Submarines | 8 | 22 |
| Patrol Vessels | 20 | 111 |
| Mine Warfare Vessels | 10 | 11 |
See economy, trade, demographics, and more for this comparison.
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Data compiled from World Bank, IMF, Global Firepower, SIPRI, Numbeo, and Pew Research.
Last updated June 2026.
Sources & methodology