Romania drops ten spots in ranking of world’s most powerful armies

Romania has dropped ten positions in the 2025 ranking conducted by the defense-focused publication Global Firepower, which compiles a list of the world's most powerful armies based on various indicators every year.

In 2024, Romania was ranked 41st in the list of 145 countries, while now it is ranked 51st, with a power ranking of 0.8984. According to the algorithm used, the best-armed country has an index as close to zero as possible.

Also last year, Romania was ranked 11th among European countries and 14th within NATO, but has been surpassed by several NATO countries such as Denmark and Finland since then. As a result, it is now 17th within the alliance.

“Since 2006, Global Firepower has been conducting military analyses regarding 145 states and their armed forces. The GFP ranking is determined by the military potential of nations, indexing the capabilities of land, air, and naval forces. The number of military personnel, equipment, natural resources, and economic and financial strength are all incorporated into over 60 analytical factors that determine the final ranking,” according to the ranking put together by specialized site Global Firepower.

According to the analysis, Romania performs well financially and in terms of military personnel but scores poorly in naval power and air power. More specifically, the country's strengths include its railway infrastructure, a sufficient number of corvettes/frigates/mine-countermeasure vessels, rocket launchers, and artillery. A weakness is the lack of attack helicopters and howitzers.

While Romania dropped in the ranking, Moldova managed to climb ten positions in the past year, now ranking 134th out of 145, ahead of Kosovo, Somalia, and Iceland.

In Eastern Europe, Romania is the 4th strongest country militarily, after Russia, Ukraine, and Poland.

The United States tops the ranking, followed by Russia and China. India, South Korea, and the United Kingdom are next, with France in 7th place, swapping positions with Japan, the only changes in the top 10. Ukraine, on the other hand, is 20th.

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