Total armed forces personnel fell 50.0% to 20.0 '000 in Yemen in 2018, according to the SIPRI Military Expenditure Database.
Historically, total armed forces personnel in Yemen reached an all time high of 146 '000 in 1997 and an all time low of 20.0 '000 in 2018. When compared to Yemen's main peers, total armed forces personnel in Djibouti amounted to 13.5 '000, 202 '000 in Eritrea, 46.6 '000 in Oman and 252 '000 in Saudi Arabia in 2018.
Yemen has been ranked 106th within the group of 164 countries we follow in terms of total armed forces personnel, 61 places below the position seen 10 years ago.
| Armed Forces Personnel (Total) | Unit | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| Djibouti | '000 | ... | 13.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 13.1 | 13.0 | |||||||||||||||
| Eritrea | '000 | ... | 202 | 202 | 202 | 202 | 202 | |||||||||||||||
| Ethiopia | '000 | ... | 138 | 138 | 138 | 138 | 138 | |||||||||||||||
| Iran | '000 | 563 | 563 | 563 | 563 | 563 | ||||||||||||||||
| Iraq | '000 | 178 | 209 | 209 | 209 | 209 | ||||||||||||||||
| Jordan | '000 | 116 | 116 | 116 | 116 | 116 | ||||||||||||||||
| Oman | '000 | 47.0 | 47.0 | 47.0 | 47.0 | 47.0 | ||||||||||||||||
| Saudi Arabia | '000 | 252 | 252 | 252 | 252 | 252 | ||||||||||||||||
| Somalia | '000 | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 11.0 | 17.0 | 19.8 | 19.8 | 20.0 | ||||||||
| Sudan | '000 | ... | 264 | 264 | 264 | 124 | 124 | |||||||||||||||
| United Arab Emirates | '000 | 63.0 | 63.0 | 63.0 | 63.0 | 63.0 | ||||||||||||||||
| Yemen | '000 | 138 | 20.0 | 20.0 | 20.0 | 40.0 |
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