19-05-2025
Top 10 naval powers in the world (2025): Where does Indian Navy rank?
Top 10 Powerful and Strongest Navy in the World 2025: Amid rising geopolitical uncertainty, there has been a rise in global military expenditure to $2718 billion, with the share of global gross domestic product (GDP) devoted to the military increasing to 2.5 per cent last year.
In addition to air forces and military personnel, having a formidable presence of naval powers is crucial, as it protects a country's shores from threats, deters potential aggressors, and maintains stability and peace in international waters.
The United States Navy continues to dominate as the most powerful naval force in the world, followed closely by China's rapidly expanding People's Liberation Army Navy, Russia, and India, each rapidly modernising and expanding their fleets to enhance strategic reach and maritime dominance
In the 2025 Global Firepower rankings, we look at the strongest navy fleets globally by tonnage, as it offers a more accurate measure of a country's maritime power than simply counting the number of ships.
Source: Global Firepower Rankings 2025
When evaluating naval fleet strength based on the total number of warships and submarines, China has the largest fleet, comprising a total of 700 vessels. The United States follows with 440, and Russia ranks third with 419.
Interestingly, Sweden and Indonesia also make it into the global top five, with fleet strengths of 331 and 308, respectively. This is noteworthy since they rank 42nd and 11th, respectively, in terms of naval tonnage.
The US is the world's leading naval power, with the TrV (True Value Rating) being the highest at 323.9, with Russia and China having significant naval capabilities.
Following the US, China has emerged as a major naval and maritime power, and notably, it leads in the Indo-Pacific region with 319.8 TrV, whereas India ranks a distant second regionally and seventh globally, with a TrV of 100.5.
In the Global Firepower Rankings 2025, following the USA and China, India stands in the 5th position globally, with its fleet total tonnage of 593,603 tonnes, and secures the 6th position with 293 vessels based on fleet strength.
Meanwhile, Pakistan ranks 27th with 121 vessels in terms of fleet strength and 28th with a total tonnage of 111,715 tonnes.
