Military Strength: Latvia vs Malta

Latvia (ranked #139 globally) holds a stronger overall military position than Malta (#152) on the ARMS Index. Latvia fields 9,000 active troops — 4.5:1 Malta's 2,000, backed by 15,900 reserves. Latvia's $1.6B defense budget is 13:1 that of Malta ($0.1B).

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

LatviaWorld #139 12.9

ARMS Index / 100

Latvia leads overall, ahead on 2 of 6 pillars

MaltaWorld #152 8.8

48.99,000 active troops Manpower15 % 34.22,000 active troops
0.00 battle tanks Ground forces20 % 0.00 battle tanks
0.00 warships Naval power20 % 0.00 warships
9.50 combat aircraft Air power25 % 10.80 combat aircraft
0.00 warheads Nuclear deterrent10 % 0.00 warheads
37.1$1.6B budget Defense budget10 % 18.8$125M budget

Latvia Malta Pillar scores 0–100 (weight under each label) over a headline figure from that domain · readiness modifier ×1.13 vs ×1.04 · Methodology

Key figures

	Latvia	Malta	Ratio
Defense budget	$1.6B	$125M	🇱🇻 13×
– share of GDP	3.7%	0.5%	🇱🇻 7.4×
Active personnel	9,000	2,000	🇱🇻 4.5×
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	15,900	260	🇱🇻 61×
Paramilitary forces	0	0	—
Military aircraft (all types)	7	7	—
– helicopters	3	3	—
Budget share of govt spending	—	—	—
Budget per capita	$866	$220	🇱🇻 3.9×
Population	1.9M	568K	🇱🇻 3.3×
GDP	$44B	$25B	🇱🇻 1.7×
GDP per capita	$23,409	$43,899	🇲🇹 1.9×
Land area	62,249 km²	316 km²	🇱🇻 197×
Coastline	498 km	252 km	🇱🇻 2.0×