HEAD TO HEAD
Japan vs Russia
Verdict
Russia holds a 62–38 advantage over Japan on the Relative Advantage Index, a clear margin.
The margin is driven by military spending (75% of the combined total, $190bn) and active personnel (83% of the combined total, 1.2m). Japan leads on economic size (GDP).
1 factor — nuclear warheads — could not be scored because the figure is unpublished for at least one side.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 | Japan | Share | Russia | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Military spending SIPRI Milex | $62.2bn | 25%75% | $190bn | 33% |
Economic size (GDP) World Bank WDI | $4.0tn | 65%35% | $2.2tn | 27% |
Active personnel COW NMC | 247.0k | 17%83% | 1.2m | 20% |
Logistics & power projection OurAirports | 270 | 47%53% | 307 | 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.
