Italy holds a 69–31 advantage over Iran on the Relative Advantage Index, a clear margin.
The margin is driven by military spending (87% of the combined total, $48.1bn) and economic size (GDP) (83% of the combined total, $2.4tn). Iran leads on active personnel.
1 factor — nuclear warheads — could not be scored because the figure is unpublished for at least one side.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 | Iran | Share | Italy | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Military spending SIPRI Milex | $7.4bn | 13%87% | $48.1bn | 33% |
Economic size (GDP) World Bank WDI | $475bn | 17%83% | $2.4tn | 27% |
Active personnel COW NMC | 610.0k | 79%21% | 161.0k | 20% |
Logistics & power projection OurAirports | 76 | 33%67% | 152 | 20% |
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.