North Korea holds a 71–29 advantage over Ethiopia on the Relative Advantage Index, a decisive margin.
The margin is driven by military spending (75% of the combined total, $1.6bn) and active personnel (72% of the combined total, 1.3m).
2 factors — economic size (GDP), nuclear warheads — could not be scored because the figure is unpublished for at least one side.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 | Ethiopia | Share | North Korea | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Military spending SIPRI Milex | $528m | 25%75% | $1.6bn | 45% |
Active personnel COW NMC | 503.0k | 28%72% | 1.3m | 27% |
Logistics & power projection OurAirports | 16 | 37%63% | 27 | 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 2026-08-04.
Every combination inside the top 30 of the Composite Power Index.
Bordering states — the comparisons people actually search for.