Armenia ranks as the third most militarized nation in the world according to the latest annual Global Militarization Index published by the Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC).

With a score of 842, Armenia is only surpassed by Israel, in first place with a score of 892.9, and Singapore, in second with a score of 870.5.

The Global Militarization Index (GMI) depicts the relative weight and importance of the military apparatus of one state in relation to its society as a whole. For this, the GMI records a number of indicators to represent the level of militarization of a country: the comparison of military expenditures with its gross domestic product (GDP) and its health expenditure (as share of its GDP); the contrast between the total number of (para)military forces and the number of physicians and the overall population; the ratio of the number of heavy weapons systems available and the number of the overall population.

The GMI is based on data from the Stockholm Peace Research Institute, the International Monetary Fund, the World Health Organization, the International Institute for Strategic Studies  and BICC. It shows the levels of militarization of 161 states since 1990. BICC provides yearly updates.

Rounding out the top 10 countries that have the highest levels of militarization for 2015 are Jordan (81.4.4), Russia (808.9), Republic of Korea (806.5), Cyprus (795.7), Greece (792.9), Azerbaijan (790.7) and Brunei (783.8). These countries allocate particularly high levels of resources to the armed forces in comparison to other areas of society.

Regarding the situation in Europe, the GMI writes:

Top rankings in Europe

Not much changed in the top positions in Europe in 2015. Armenia, Russia and Cyprus are in positions one to three, as was the case in the previous year. In the fourth and fifth place Azerbaijan and Greece simply exchanged spots. Ukraine and Turkey climbed one place up each (position 7 and 8), while Finland slipped down two places (position 9).

As in previous years, the very high levels of militarization in Armenia (position 1) and Azerbaijan (position 5) stand out. This primarily reflects the ongoing conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. Both countries invest an excessive amount of resources in their armed forces. That the situation is still tense was underlined by the military clashes in April 2016, in which at least 110 soldiers and civilians were killed on both sides and which were the heaviest fighting since the ceasefire in 1994. The current efforts of the Minsk Group under German OSCE Chairmanship to mediate in the conflict have so far not produced any results.

As the failed coup attempt in July 2016 shows, the domestic political situation in Armenia is also tense.