---
title: "Soldiers: North Korea data | Save North Korea"
description: "Soldiers: Active armed forces personnel. Interactive chart, table and CSV download, with source and date."
url: "https://savenorthkorea.org/data/armed-forces"
language: en
translations:
  en: https://savenorthkorea.org/data/armed-forces
  ko: https://savenorthkorea.org/ko/data/armed-forces
  ja: https://savenorthkorea.org/ja/data/armed-forces
  zh-Hans: https://savenorthkorea.org/zh/data/armed-forces
---

[All charts](https://savenorthkorea.org/data) · [Freedom and weapons](https://savenorthkorea.org/data#power)

# Soldiers

### Soldiers

Active armed forces personnel.

**Source:** [The Military Balance - International Institute for Strategic Studies, via World Bank (2026), via Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/armed-forces-personnel) (CC BY 4.0)  ·  Data downloaded 2026-10-05, source updated 2026-07-27

[Share](https://x.com/intent/post?text=Soldiers&url=https%3A%2F%2Fsavenorthkorea.org%2Fdata%2Farmed-forces)

## About this data

Latest

North Korea: 1,469,000 people (2020)

License

CC BY 4.0

How to cite

Save North Korea (2026). “Soldiers”. Data from The Military Balance - International Institute for Strategic Studies, via World Bank (2026), via Our World in Data. https://savenorthkorea.org/data/armed-forces

[ CSV](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Ahmet-Dedeler/free-north-korea/main/data/series/csv/armed-forces.csv)[ All data on GitHub](https://github.com/Ahmet-Dedeler/free-north-korea/blob/main/data/series/csv/armed-forces.csv)

## Related charts

### Democracy score

V-Dem electoral democracy index: 0 is none, 1 is full. Free elections, free press, right to organise.

**Source:** [V-Dem (2026), via Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/electoral-democracy-index) (CC BY 4.0)  ·  Data downloaded 2026-10-05, source updated 2026-03-17

[Share](https://x.com/intent/post?text=Democracy%20score&url=https%3A%2F%2Fsavenorthkorea.org%2Fdata%2Fdemocracy)[ Open full chart](https://savenorthkorea.org/data/democracy)

### Civil liberties score

V-Dem index: 0 is none, 1 is full. Freedom from state violence, free speech, freedom of movement and religion.

**Source:** [V-Dem (2026), via Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/human-rights-index-vdem) (CC BY 4.0)  ·  Data downloaded 2026-10-05, source updated 2026-03-17

[Share](https://x.com/intent/post?text=Civil%20liberties%20score&url=https%3A%2F%2Fsavenorthkorea.org%2Fdata%2Fcivil-liberties)[ Open full chart](https://savenorthkorea.org/data/civil-liberties)

### Missiles launched each year

Every missile counts once, so a salvo of four is four.

**Source:** [CNS North Korea Missile Test Database, via nagix/nk-missile-tests](https://github.com/nagix/nk-missile-tests) (MIT)  ·  Data downloaded 2026-10-12, source updated 2026-10-12

[Share](https://x.com/intent/post?text=Missiles%20launched%20each%20year&url=https%3A%2F%2Fsavenorthkorea.org%2Fdata%2Fmissile-launches)[ Open full chart](https://savenorthkorea.org/data/missile-launches)

### Nuclear warheads

Estimated warheads in North Korea’s stockpile. Nobody outside knows the exact number.

**Source:** [Federation of American Scientists (2026), via Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/nuclear-warhead-stockpiles) (CC BY 4.0)  ·  Data downloaded 2026-10-05, source updated 2026-05-13

[Share](https://x.com/intent/post?text=Nuclear%20warheads&url=https%3A%2F%2Fsavenorthkorea.org%2Fdata%2Fnuclear-warheads)[ Open full chart](https://savenorthkorea.org/data/nuclear-warheads)