Italy and South Korea are close to evenly matched, 52–48 on the Relative Advantage Index.
Italy leads on military spending (50% of the combined total, $48.1bn) and logistics & power projection (80% of the combined total, 152), which South Korea offsets elsewhere.
1 factor — nuclear warheads — could not be scored because the figure is unpublished for at least one side.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 | Italy | Share | South Korea | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Military spending SIPRI Milex | $48.1bn | 50%50% | $47.8bn | 33% |
Economic size (GDP) World Bank WDI | $2.4tn | 56%44% | $1.9tn | 27% |
Active personnel COW NMC | 161.0k | 22%78% | 555.0k | 20% |
Logistics & power projection OurAirports | 152 | 80%20% | 38 | 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.