Head-to-Head

China vs Iran

Side-by-side military and economic comparison. Blue is China, red is Iran. Every figure links back to its full world ranking.
🇨🇳 China
MIL. STRENGTH #3
VS
🇮🇷 Iran
MIL. STRENGTH #16
1.41B 88M
👥 Population
$18.8T $400B
📈 GDP (Nominal)
$296B $20B
💰 Defense Budget
2M 610k
🪖 Active Personnel
📈 China's economy is 47× larger
💰 China's defense budget is 15× larger
🪖 China's active force is 3.3× larger
✈️ China's air fleet is 6.0× larger
👥 China's population is 16× larger
MANPOWERLANDAIRNAVALECONOMYBUDGET
ChinaIran
Fleet Modernity — Quality, Not Just Count
MIXED
✈️ Air Fleet
MIXED
MODERN
🛡️ Armor Fleet
MIXED
ADVANCED
⚓ Naval Fleet
LIKELY AGING
LEADING
🛰️ Drones / UAV
ADVANCED
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 5 of 6 · Iran wins 1 of 6
Manpower
★ China
Financials
★ China
Airpower
★ China
Land Power
★ Iran
Naval Power
★ China
Strategic
★ China
Manpower
★ 1,410,000,000
👥 Total Population
88,000,000
★ 2,035,000
🪖 Active Personnel
610,000
★ 510,000
🎖️ Reserve Personnel
350,000
0
👮 Paramilitary Forces
190,000 ★
Financials
★ $296B
💰 Defense Budget
$20B
★ $18,800B
📈 GDP (Nominal)
$400B
Airpower
★ 3,300
✈️ Total Aircraft
551
★ 1,200
🛩️ Fighter Aircraft
186
★ 2,100
🛫 Bombers & Other Aircraft
365
0
🚁 Helicopters (Total)
129 ★
Land Power
★ 4,600
🛡️ Tank Strength
1,996
0
🚚 Armored Vehicles
4,071 ★
0
💥 Towed Artillery
2,050 ★
Naval Power
★ 730
⚓ Fleet Strength
110
★ 66
🌊 Submarines
19
★ 3
🛳️ Aircraft Carriers
0
Strategic
★ 600
☢️ Nuclear Warheads
0
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.