Military Strength: Bhutan vs Nepal

Nepal (ranked #133 globally) holds a stronger overall military position than Bhutan (#175) on the ARMS Index. Nepal fields 112,000 active troops — 19:1 Bhutan's 6,000, backed by 15,000 paramilitary. Nepal allocates $0.4B to defense.

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

BhutanWorld #175 0.9

ARMS Index / 100

Nepal leads on 3 of 6 pillars

NepalWorld #133 13.5

0.06,000 active troops Manpower15 % 66.0112K active troops
0.00 battle tanks Ground forces20 % 0.00 battle tanks
0.00 warships Naval power20 % 0.00 warships
4.00 combat aircraft Air power25 % 19.80 combat aircraft
0.00 warheads Nuclear deterrent10 % 0.00 warheads
0.0$0 budget Defense budget10 % 27.0$429M budget

Bhutan Nepal Pillar scores 0–100 (weight under each label) over a headline figure from that domain · readiness modifier ×1.00 vs ×0.85 · Methodology

Key figures

	Bhutan	Nepal	Ratio
Defense budget	—	$429M	🇳🇵
– share of GDP	—	1.0%	🇳🇵
Active personnel	6,000	112,000	🇳🇵 19×
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	0	0	—
Paramilitary forces	0	15,000	🇳🇵
Military aircraft (all types)	2	22	🇳🇵 11×
– helicopters	2	15	🇳🇵 7.5×
Budget share of govt spending	—	—	—
Budget per capita	—	$14	🇳🇵
Population	791K	29.7M	🇳🇵 37×
GDP	$3B	$43B	🇳🇵 14×
GDP per capita	$3,806	$1,447	🇧🇹 2.6×
Land area	38,394 km²	143,686 km²	🇳🇵 3.7×
Coastline	0 km	0 km	—