Economy · Africa ranking
Military Spending (% of GDP) by African country
Algeria has the highest reported military expenditure as a share of GDP among the 49 countries shown, at 8% (2024).
Military expenditure as a share of GDP (SIPRI via World Bank). 49 of 54 countries are shown. Open a country to see its source details and available history.
Latest available year varies by country (2023–2024). Only observations within 2 years of the freshest result are included, and each row shows its period.
Algeria
Libya
Burkina FasoBy region
Full ranking
| # | Country | Military Spending (% of GDP) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Algeria | 8% | |
| 2 | Libya | 5.3% | |
| 3 | Burkina Faso | 4.7% | |
| 4 | Mali | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Burundi | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Morocco | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Chad | 3% | |
| 8 | Botswana | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Namibia | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Central African Republic | 2.5% | |
| 11 | Tunisia | 2.5% | |
| 12 | Niger | 2.2% | |
| 13 | Mauritania | 2.2% | |
| 14 | Guinea | 2.1% | |
| 15 | Togo | 2% | |
| 16 | Mozambique | 2% | |
| 17 | South Sudan | 2% | |
| 18 | Uganda | 1.9% | |
| 19 | Somalia | 1.6% | |
| 20 | Lesotho | 1.6% | |
| 21 | Senegal | 1.6% | |
| 22 | Gabon | 1.5% | |
| 23 | Eswatini | 1.4% | |
| 24 | Zambia | 1.3% | |
| 25 | Rwanda | 1.2% | |
| 26 | Guinea-Bissau | 1.2% | |
| 27 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 1.2% | |
| 28 | Republic of the Congo | 1.2% | |
| 29 | Seychelles | 1.2% | |
| 30 | Tanzania | 1.2% | |
| 31 | Malawi | 1% | |
| 32 | Cameroon | 1% | |
| 33 | Angola | 1% | |
| 34 | Kenya | 1% | |
| 35 | Equatorial Guinea | 1% | |
| 36 | Cote d'Ivoire | 0.8% | |
| 37 | Benin | 0.7% | |
| 38 | Liberia | 0.7% | |
| 39 | Madagascar | 0.7% | |
| 40 | South Africa | 0.7% | |
| 41 | Egypt | 0.7% | |
| 42 | Ethiopia | 0.7% | |
| 43 | Cabo Verde | 0.6% | |
| 44 | Gambia | 0.6% | |
| 45 | Nigeria | 0.6% | |
| 46 | Sierra Leone | 0.5% | |
| 47 | Ghana | 0.4% | |
| 48 | Zimbabwe | 0.4% | |
| 49 | Mauritius | 0.1% |
Mali
Burundi
Morocco
Chad
Botswana
Namibia
Central African Republic
Tunisia
Niger
Mauritania
Guinea
Togo
Mozambique
South Sudan
Uganda
Somalia
Lesotho
Senegal
Gabon
Eswatini
Zambia
Rwanda
Guinea-Bissau
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Republic of the Congo
Seychelles
Tanzania
Malawi
Cameroon
Angola
Kenya
Equatorial Guinea
Cote d'Ivoire
Benin
Liberia
Madagascar
South Africa
Egypt
Ethiopia
Cabo Verde
Gambia
Nigeria
Sierra Leone
Ghana
Zimbabwe
MauritiusGet this ranking via API
Request the latest available Military Spending (% of GDP) values for the selected countries as JSON. The response includes source metadata; check reporting periods before comparing values.
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=military_expenditure_pct_gdp&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Cite or republish this ranking
Check the original source's reuse conditions before republishing. Keep each observation's source and reporting period with the value, and link to this page. See the terms and source metadata reference.
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About this ranking
Which observations are included?
The table includes 49 of 54 countries with available observations for 2023 or later and within 2 years of the freshest result. Each row shows its reporting period. Countries without an eligible observation are omitted.
Does a higher value mean a better result?
The table is sorted by value, from highest to lowest. The order does not rate a country's performance. Interpretation depends on the indicator and its definition.
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