Military Strength: Bhutan vs Laos

Laos (ranked #108 globally) holds a stronger overall military position than Bhutan (#175) on the ARMS Index. Laos fields 129,000 active troops — 22:1 Bhutan's 6,000, backed by 100,000 paramilitary. Laos allocates $0.02B to defense.

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

BhutanWorld #175 0.9

ARMS Index / 100

Laos leads on 4 of 6 pillars

LaosWorld #108 18.8

0.06,000 active troops Manpower15 % 61.2129K active troops
0.00 battle tanks Ground forces20 % 50.4160 battle tanks
0.00 warships Naval power20 % 0.00 warships
4.00 combat aircraft Air power25 % 25.74 combat aircraft
0.00 warheads Nuclear deterrent10 % 0.00 warheads
0.0$0 budget Defense budget10 % 9.6$23M budget

Bhutan Laos Pillar scores 0–100 (weight under each label) over a headline figure from that domain · readiness modifier ×1.00 vs ×0.80 · Methodology

Key figures

	Bhutan	Laos	Ratio
Defense budget	—	$23M	🇱🇦
– share of GDP	—	0.2%	🇱🇦
Active personnel	6,000	129,000	🇱🇦 22×
Combat aircraft	0	4	🇱🇦
Warships	0	0	—
– submarines	0	0	—
Main battle tanks	0	160	🇱🇦
Nuclear warheads	0	0	—

Show full breakdown · 11 more rowsHide the 11 extra rows

Reserve troops	0	0	—
Paramilitary forces	0	100,000	🇱🇦
Military aircraft (all types)	2	32	🇱🇦 16×
– helicopters	2	23	🇱🇦 12×
Budget share of govt spending	—	0.8%	🇱🇦
Budget per capita	—	$4	🇱🇦
Population	791K	7.8M	🇱🇦 9.8×
GDP	$3B	$17B	🇱🇦 5.5×
GDP per capita	$3,806	$2,124	🇧🇹 1.8×
Land area	38,394 km²	230,800 km²	🇱🇦 6.0×
Coastline	0 km	0 km	—