Military Strength: Belize vs Panama

Panama (ranked #132 globally) holds a stronger overall military position than Belize (#160) on the ARMS Index. Panama fields 28,000 active troops — 14:1 Belize's 2,000, backed by 26,000 paramilitary. Panama's $1.0B defense budget is 30:1 that of Belize ($0.03B).

ARMS (Aggregate Rating of Military Strength) Index face-off Full ranking →

BelizeWorld #160 6.3

ARMS Index / 100

Panama leads on 3 of 6 pillars

PanamaWorld #132 13.7

34.22,000 active troops Manpower15 % 44.128K active troops
0.00 battle tanks Ground forces20 % 0.00 battle tanks
0.00 warships Naval power20 % 0.00 warships
5.00 combat aircraft Air power25 % 22.90 combat aircraft
0.00 warheads Nuclear deterrent10 % 0.00 warheads
11.2$32M budget Defense budget10 % 32.9$952M budget

Belize Panama Pillar scores 0–100 (weight under each label) over a headline figure from that domain · readiness modifier ×0.96 vs ×1.00 · Methodology

Key figures

	Belize	Panama	Ratio
Defense budget	$32M	$952M	🇵🇦 30×
– share of GDP	1.0%	1.1%	🇵🇦 1.1×
Active personnel	2,000	28,000	🇵🇦 14×
Combat aircraft	0	0	—
Warships	0	0	—
– submarines	0	0	—
Main battle tanks	0	0	—
Nuclear warheads	0	0	—

Show full breakdown · 11 more rowsHide the 11 extra rows

Reserve troops	850	0	🇧🇿
Paramilitary forces	500	26,000	🇵🇦 52×
Military aircraft (all types)	3	40	🇵🇦 13×
– helicopters	1	25	🇵🇦 25×
Budget share of govt spending	—	—	—
Budget per capita	$77	$211	🇵🇦 2.7×
Population	417K	4.5M	🇵🇦 11×
GDP	$3.2B	$87B	🇵🇦 27×
GDP per capita	$7,681	$19,161	🇵🇦 2.5×
Land area	22,806 km²	74,340 km²	🇵🇦 3.3×
Coastline	386 km	2,490 km	🇵🇦 6.5×