Head-to-Head

China vs India

Side-by-side military and economic comparison. Blue is China, red is India. Every figure links back to its full world ranking.
🇨🇳 China
MIL. STRENGTH #3
VS
🇮🇳 India
MIL. STRENGTH #4
1.41B 1.44B
👥 Population
$18.8T $3.9T
📈 GDP (Nominal)
$296B $109B
💰 Defense Budget
2M 1.4M
🪖 Active Personnel
📈 China's economy is 4.8× larger
💰 China's defense budget is 2.7× larger
🪖 China's active force is 1.4× larger
✈️ China's air fleet is 1.5× larger
👥 Near-parity in population (1.02×)
MANPOWERLANDAIRNAVALECONOMYBUDGET
ChinaIndia
Fleet Modernity — Quality, Not Just Count
MIXED
✈️ Air Fleet
MODERN
MODERN
🛡️ Armor Fleet
MIXED
ADVANCED
⚓ Naval Fleet
MODERN
LEADING
🛰️ Drones / UAV
MODERATE
Tiers weight fleet generation and era, not raw counts — a smaller modern fleet often outmatches a larger obsolete one on paper.
Leads More Categories
★ China
China wins 4 of 6 · India wins 2 of 6
Manpower
★ India
Financials
★ China
Airpower
★ China
Land Power
★ India
Naval Power
★ China
Strategic
★ China
Manpower
1,410,000,000
👥 Total Population
1,440,000,000 ★
★ 2,035,000
🪖 Active Personnel
1,431,000
510,000
🎖️ Reserve Personnel
1,000,000 ★
0
👮 Paramilitary Forces
2,527,000 ★
Financials
★ $296B
💰 Defense Budget
$109B
★ $18,800B
📈 GDP (Nominal)
$3,900B
Airpower
★ 3,300
✈️ Total Aircraft
2,183
★ 1,200
🛩️ Fighter Aircraft
476
★ 2,100
🛫 Bombers & Other Aircraft
1,707
0
🚁 Helicopters (Total)
594 ★
Land Power
★ 4,600
🛡️ Tank Strength
3,913
0
🚚 Armored Vehicles
163,554 ★
0
💥 Towed Artillery
5,640 ★
Naval Power
★ 730
⚓ Fleet Strength
343
★ 66
🌊 Submarines
18
★ 3
🛳️ Aircraft Carriers
2
Strategic
★ 600
☢️ Nuclear Warheads
180
Full profile
🇨🇳 China
Category winners count metric-by-metric leads only; "n/a" values count as zero, so data gaps can skew a category. Cross-check before citing.