415,007 personnel: force numbers grew again after a decade of decline
It has been claimed that Colombia's security forces shrank. The series says otherwise: they grew 10.6% between 2022 and 2026, nearly 40,000 more personnel, after two consecutive periods of contraction.
It is one of the most widely repeated claims about security in Colombia: that the security forces shrank. The official force-strength series says precisely the opposite, and says it with a clarity that admits no qualification.
In 2026, Colombia's security forces number 415,007 personnel. In 2022 they numbered 375,033. The difference is close to forty thousand people: growth of 10.6%.
The context that makes the figure meaningful
Growth of 10.6% might look modest if it were not compared with what had been happening before. Between 2010 and 2014, force numbers grew 3%. Between 2014 and 2018, they fell 4.3%. Between 2018 and 2022, they fell 11%. In other words: for eight consecutive years the security forces contracted, and the 2018–2022 period recorded the sharpest fall in the series.
Recent growth was not linear. In 2023 numbers still dipped slightly, to 370,895 — the inertia of previous years. The turning point comes in 2024, at 398,080. In 2025 it rises to 400,055, and in 2026 it reaches 415,007.
Why it grew
Growth is not a decree. It is the cumulative consequence of three decisions taken in parallel: raising the allowance for military and police service to a full minimum wage, eliminating tuition fees at training academies, and doubling the daily food allocation. Once serving stopped meaning an economic sacrifice for the family of the person serving, the supply of candidates multiplied.
What it enabled
More personnel is not an end in itself. Growth in force numbers is what made it possible to expand the Rapid Deployment Forces, units able to fight with greater flexibility without being tied to the internal boundaries of military jurisdictions. In 2022 there were four; in 2026 there are thirteen.
Although, as the Minister himself has noted, the answer to the security problem does not lie only in having more people: with better technology and intelligence, less force strength is required, because risk falls, uncertainty decreases and the probability of success of each operation rises.
