HEAD TO HEAD
Australia vs South Korea
Verdict
South Korea holds a 54–46 advantage over Australia on the Relative Advantage Index.
The margin is driven by military spending (57% of the combined total, $47.8bn) and active personnel (90% of the combined total, 555.0k). Australia leads on logistics & power projection.
1 factor — nuclear warheads — could not be scored because the figure is unpublished for at least one side. Those factors are excluded and the remaining weights renormalised, never substituted.
Factor by factor
| Factor | Australia | Share | South Korea | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Military spending SIPRI Milex | $35.3bn | 43%57% | $47.8bn | 33% |
Economic size (GDP) World Bank WDI | $1.8tn | 48%52% | $1.9tn | 27% |
Active personnel COW NMC | 60.0k | 10%90% | 555.0k | 20% |
Logistics & power projection OurAirports | 213 | 85%15% | 38 | 20% |
Shares are each side's portion of the combined total for that factor. Weights are renormalised across the factors both sides publish — see the methodology. Data read 2026-10-22.
