The axisymmetric buckling problem of homogeneous and laminated annular plates, on the basis of fully three-dimensional elasticity considerations for either the prebuckling or perturbed state, is studied in this paper. Moreover, based on a recursive formulation, the present approach always makes use of a 2 x 2 eigenmatrix, independently of the number of layers of the laminated plate considered. Detailed numerical results, dealing with axisymmetric buckling of plates made of laminated materials, are presented and discussed.