Countries with Mandatory Military Service 2025

Most nations in the world have some form of military. However, the methods used to fill the ranks of those armed forces vary from one country to the next.

Primary Methods of Recruitment

Voluntary enlistment

Citizens choose the military as their employer and serve their country as their job or career. Widely regarded as the most preferable and socially responsible method of maintaining a military force.

Mandatory service

All males (and sometimes all females as well) of a certain age must serve their country for a minimum amount of time (usually 1-3 years). Typically employed by militaries with the greatest need or the most autocratic leaders.

Conscription/Draft

A variation on mandatory service in which everyone in a certain demographic group (typically males aged 18-35) must register as eligible for military service, but the possibility exists that they will not be called to active duty (referred to as being “drafted” or “conscripted”), particularly in times of peace.

Selective compulsory service

In many conscription systems, the selection of recruits is random or lottery-driven. In selective compulsory systems, however, candidates are deliberately chosen and called into service only to meet a particular area of need (for instance, medical personnel, mechanics, or pilots).

De Jure* compulsory service

The least demanding form of compulsory service. Mandatory military service technically exists according to the law but is rarely (if ever) actually enforced. For example, the United States still requires all able-bodied males aged 18-25 to register with the Selective Service, meaning they could be drafted into military service if needed. However, so many voluntary recruits enlist that the draft has not been used since 1973 (during the Vietnam War). Similarly, males in China aged 18-22 must register for 24-month compulsory service, but enough volunteers exist that no “draft” of compulsory registrants has ever taken place.

Combinations

Many nations utilize multiple systems in tandem. The United States, for example, relies on voluntary enlistment but also has a de jure conscription system (the Selective Service) to fall back upon should the need arise.

Mandatory Military Service in the News

The United States has the highest defense spending budget of any country, despite the fact that fewer than 1% of its citizens actively serve in the military. Many Americans may be surprised to learn that the Selective Service—commonly referred to as the draft—still exists. Resolutions introduced in the House of Representatives in 2019 (H.R. 5492) and 2021 (H.R. 2509) would both have abolished the Selective Service. However, as of December 2023, both resolutions appeared to have died in committee.

South Korea amended its compulsory conscription law in 2020 to enable globally relevant entertainers such as K-pop group BTS, whose members would soon be forced to quit the group to serve their time in the military, to defer their 18-21 months of service until age 30.