WWII: share of male population mobilized by country 1937-1945| ��ƽ��

Number of personnel mobilized as a share of the total male population in selected Axis and Allied countries or territories during the Second World War from 1937 to 1945

Characteristic	Allied	Axis
Germany	-	42%
Italy**	-	41.5%
Finland	-	37.8%
Soviet Union	35%	-
Australia	28.5%	-
New Zealand	25.5%	-
Japan	-	25.5%
Romania	-	25%
United States	24.7%	-
Great Britain	24.4%	-
Canada	19.9%	-
Yugoslavia	19%	-
South Africa: white	18.7%	-
Greece	14.95%	-
Poland	14.8%	-
Belgium	14.2%	-
Bulgaria	-	14.2%
Hungary	-	13.86%
France	12.5%	-
Croatia	-	10.5%
Netherlands	9%	-
Slovakia	-	6.2%
Norway	6%	-
China	5.3%	-
South Africa: black	4.8%	-
India	1.6%	-
Manchukuo	-	1%

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Release date

2021

More information

Region

Worldwide

Survey time period

1937* to 1945

Supplementary notes

Classification of Allied and Axis countries were chosen by the source. The source adds that around one third of Romania's forces fought for the Allies, and that there is overlap between the figures for Yugoslavia and Croatia.

*WWII is generally considered to have started in 1939, however 1937 is chosen as the start date due to the Second Sino-Japanese War.
**Many sources place the number of Italians mobilized at around four million, whereas this source gives a figure of 9.1 million - therefore the share of the male population mobilized may be much lower.

Citation formats

During the Second World War, the three Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Finland mobilized the largest share of their male population. For the Allies, the Soviet Union mobilized the largest share of men, as well as the largest total army of any country, but it was restricted in its ability to mobilize more due to the impact this would have on its economy. Other notable statistics come from the British Empire, where a larger share of men were drafted from Dominions than from the metropole, and there is also a discrepancy between the share of the black and white populations from South Africa.

However, it should be noted that there were many external factors from the war that influenced these figures. For example, gender ratios among the adult populations of many European countries was already skewed due to previous conflicts of the 20^th century (namely WWI and the Russian Revolution), whereas the share of the male population eligible to fight in many Asian and African countries was lower than more demographically developed societies, as high child mortality rates meant that the average age of the population was much lower.