North Korea has the fourth-largest number of active armed forces in the world. Alain Nogues/Corbis via Getty Images

The US military may lead the world in budget size and in the ambitions of its warfare technology , but there is one measure by which it is outsized by other nations.

Using data from the International Institute for Strategic Studies' 2026 Military Balance report, Business Insider ranked the top 25 countries by the size of their active armed forces during 2025 and listed their defense budgets that same year.

Active-duty force size is a tally of a country's uniformed troops: airmen, soldiers, sailors, special operators, and Marines.

Armies, in particular, depend on size to gain and occupy ground during armed conflicts .

Militaries can also be a tool of domestic repression.…