| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Military expenditure (% GDP) | No authoritative open source found |
| Military expenditure | No authoritative open source found |
| Armed forces personnel | No authoritative open source found |
| Arms imports | No authoritative open source found |
| Arms exports | No authoritative open source found |
| Military & security forces | the Pontifical Swiss Guard Corps (Corpo della Guardia Svizzera Pontificia) serves as the de facto military force of Vatican City; the Gendarmerie Corps of Vatican City (Corpo della Gendarmeriais) is a police force that helps augment the Pontifical Swiss Guard Corps during the Pope’s appearances, as well as providing general security, traffic direction, and investigative duties for the Vatican City State (2025); note: the Swiss Guard Corps has protected the Pope and his residence since 1506CIA World Factbook [2025] · 2026 archive |
| Military service age & obligation | Pontifical Swiss Guard Corps: 19-30 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription; must be a single Roman Catholic male with Swiss citizenship who has completed basic training with the Swiss military and can obtain a certificate of good conduct; qualified candidates must apply to serve; the service contract is between 2 and 25 years (2025)CIA World Factbook [2025] · 2026 archive |
| Arms imports (USD) | No authoritative open source found |
| Arms exports (USD) | No authoritative open source found |
| Military spending (% of GDP) | No authoritative open source found |
| Military spending (USD) | No authoritative open source found |
Defense
Holy See (Vatican City)
Section metadata
Data year2025
EditionDatabook 2026
Coverage2/11
LicenseCC-BY
Datasets on this page
- CIA World Factbookcia_factbookEdition: 2025
About this data
Holy See (Vatican City)'s defense on Databook compiles 2 indicators from 1 open datasets including CIA World Factbook. Key figures include military & security forces (the Pontifical Swiss Guard Corps (Corpo della Guardia Svizzera Pontificia) serves as the de facto military force of Vatican City; the Gendarmerie Corps of Vatican City (Corpo della Gendarmeriais) is a police force that helps augment the Pontifical Swiss Guard Corps during the Pope’s appearances, as well as providing general security, traffic direction, and investigative duties for the Vatican City State (2025); note: the Swiss Guard Corps has protected the Pope and his residence since 1506), military service age & obligation (Pontifical Swiss Guard Corps: 19-30 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription; must be a single Roman Catholic male with Swiss citizenship who has completed basic training with the Swiss military and can obtain a certificate of good conduct; qualified candidates must apply to serve; the service contract is between 2 and 25 years (2025)). Data is referenced to 2025. Every value carries its source and publication year, published under open licenses.