Data for 2021

Military Dimension Index, 2021

Name: Military Dimension Index, 2021
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2021, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Military Dimension Index, 2021 covers 176 countries. Mali is highest, at 1.000; 67 countries share the lowest reading, 0.000. The middle country reads 0.096. Against 2020, 71 values changed (40 up, 31 down), the same countries are covered.

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Military Dimension Index · Data for 2021

HighestMali

1.000

Lowest67 countries share it

0.000

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the lowest end.

176countries
1measure
2021the year it describes
37distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 26, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY-SA 4.0licence

01Values only

The table

Every country and every column of Military Dimension Index, 2021, as published. The file carries values only, so no position is shown. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 176 countries · select a heading to sort

Military Dimension Index, 2021: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.

Mali`MLI`Western Africa	1.000
Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.900
Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.875
Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.700
Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.625
Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.500
Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.500
Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.500
Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.500
Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.417
Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.417
Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.400
Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.400
Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.400
Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.385
Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.375
Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.375
Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.375
Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.375
El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.357
Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.357
Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.357
Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.357
Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.333
Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.333
Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.333
Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.318
Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.318
Honduras`HND`Central America	0.300
Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.286
DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.286
Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.286
Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.286
Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.278
Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.278
Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.278
Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.278
Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.250
Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.250
Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.250
Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.250
Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.250
São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.250
Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.228
Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.214
Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.214
Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.214
Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.214
Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.214
Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.214
Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.214
Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.211
Brazil`BRA`South America	0.200
Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.200
Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.200
Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.200
Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.200
South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	0.200
Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.188
Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.188
Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.188
Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.188
Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.188
Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.182
Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.167
Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.167
Guyana`GUY`South America	0.167
Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.167
Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.167
Suriname`SUR`South America	0.167
Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.167
Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.143
Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.143
Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.143
Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.139
Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.125
Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.125
Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.125
Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.125
Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.125
Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.125
Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.125
United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.125
Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.100
Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.100
Peru`PER`South America	0.100
Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.100
Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.100
Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.091
Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.091
Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.083
Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.083
Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.083
Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.083
Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.083
Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.071
Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.071
Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.071
Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.071
Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.071
Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.067
Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.062
North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.062
United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.062
Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.056
Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.050
Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.050
Uruguay`URY`South America	0.050
China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.031
Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.000
Argentina`ARG`South America	0.000
Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.000
Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.000
Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.000
Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.000
Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.000
Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.000
Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.000
Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.000
Chile`CHL`South America	0.000
Colombia`COL`South America	0.000
Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.000
Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.000
Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.000
Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.000
Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.000
Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.000
Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.000
France`FRA`Western Europe	0.000
Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.000
Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.000
Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.000
Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.000
Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.000
Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.000
Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.000
India`IND`Southern Asia	0.000
Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.000
Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.000
Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.000
Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.000
Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.000
Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.000
Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.000
Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.000
Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.000
Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.000
Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.000
Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.000
Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.000
Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.000
Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.000
Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.000
New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.000
North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.000
Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.000
Panama`PAN`Central America	0.000
Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.000
Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.000
Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.000
Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.000
Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.000
Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.000
Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.000
Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.000
Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.000
Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.000
South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.000
South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.000
Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.000
Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.000
Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.000
Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.000
Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.000
United States`USA`Northern America	0.000
Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.000

02In 2021

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

Mali1.000
Guinea0.900
Chad0.875
Sudan0.700
Afghanistan0.625

Lowest

South Africashared0.000
Kosovoshared0.000
Vietnamshared0.000
United Statesshared0.000
Taiwanshared0.000

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 0.096. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032020 → 2021

Since 2020

What changed between 2020 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
71values changed, of 176 in both
40 · 31rose · fell
105unchanged

Rose most

Chad0.333 → 0.875+0.542
Sudan0.179 → 0.700+0.521
Guinea0.400 → 0.900+0.500
Afghanistan0.150 → 0.625+0.475
Myanmar0.286 → 0.500+0.214

Fell most

Libya0.417 → 0.250−0.167
United Arab Emirates0.250 → 0.125−0.125
DR Congo0.400 → 0.286−0.114
Honduras0.400 → 0.300−0.100
Angola0.500 → 0.400−0.100

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

How values are stored

One year of the 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 2021.
37 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 67 countries share 0.000. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 176 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
176 rows · 4.4 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download military-dimension-2021-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
V-Dem Institute’s own file, on its own site.
V-Dem-CY-Core-v16_csv.zip

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg (2021). Military Dimension Index, 2021 [data set], describing 2021. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/military-dimension/2021

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Military Dimension Index, 2020
176 countries
The year after ›
Military Dimension Index, 2022
176 countries
All of them
Military Dimension Index: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions