The world’s largest army 10 times bigger than Britain’s armed with lasers

China has the largest army in the world with about two million active soldiers, the latest figures show.

India, the United States, North Korea and Russia are all in the top five of the world’s biggest armies, according to Statista.

China’s 2,000,000 active military personnel dwarfs the UK’s which is 10 times smaller than the Asian giant, 194,000.

Britain’s army in 2022 was smaller than Morocco (200,000), Iraq (200,000), Ukraine (200,000) and France (200,000).

Out of the 25 countries listed in Statista’s count, Britain comes bottom, behind Saudi Arabia, Japan, Thailand, Colombia, Brazil, Turkey and Egypt, to name a few.

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Active service means those whose main occupation is being a full time part of a military force, but it is not the only measure by which to judge the size of an army.

The quantity and quality of military equipment is another standard by which to gauge the strength of a country’s Armed Forces.

Military spending is another measure, with the US far outstripping other countries when it comes to how many billions it pays out.

Washington spent $877billion on its military in 2022, which according to Statista accounted for 40 percent of overall spending worldwide.

The US was followed by China ($292bn), Russia ($86.4bn), India ($81.4bn), Saudi Arabia ($75bn) and the UK ($68.5bn).

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War-torn Ukraine topped the list of countries by military spending as a percentage of GDP with a whopping 34 percent, compared to second place Saudi Arabia on 7.4 percent. Russia’s expenditure by the same measure was 4.1 percent, Statista revealed.

According to the US think tank RAND Corporation, the last 20 years have seen China’s People’s Liberation Army transform itself from “a large but antiquated force into a capable, modern military”.

The non-profit says while China still lags behind the United States’ when it comes to military equipment and operational skills, it has improved in a number of critical areas.

Beijing has developed ballistic and cruise missiles which threaten US forward bases, with the ability to knock out the closest American base to the Taiwan Strait.

China has also developed anti-ship ballistic missiles which pose a new threat to US naval commanders.

It has also improved its airpower and air defence systems, according to the RAND Corporation’s analysis.

But the US and Russia still dominate when it comes to the number of nuclear warheads each has in its arsenal.

Out of a worldwide total of 12,512 as of January this year, Russia possessed 5,889 while the US had 5,244.

China, by comparison, had 410, with France possessing 290 and the UK 225, according to Statista.

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