HEAD TO HEAD
North Korea vs Saudi Arabia
Verdict
Saudi Arabia holds a 67–33 advantage over North Korea on the Relative Advantage Index, a clear margin.
The margin is driven by military spending (98% of the combined total, $83.2bn) and logistics & power projection (65% of the combined total, 50). North Korea leads on active personnel.
2 factors — economic size (GDP), nuclear warheads — could not be scored because the figure is unpublished for at least one side.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 | North Korea | Share | Saudi Arabia | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Military spending SIPRI Milex | $1.6bn | 2%98% | $83.2bn | 45% |
Active personnel COW NMC | 1.3m | 83%17% | 257.0k | 27% |
Logistics & power projection OurAirports | 27 | 35%65% | 50 | 27% |
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.
