Military expenditure as a share of GDP (SIPRI via World Bank).
These three states are used the same way across every indicator on the site — how we treat certainty explains the full set and what we never do to a number.
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The figures at the top of the page compare every country in the same year. This list takes each country’s newest figure instead, whatever its period, so the order can differ.
| # | Country | Military Spending (% of GDP) | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Algeria | 8.8% | 2025 |
| 2 | Mali | 3.9% | 2025 |
| 3 | Libya | 3.6% | 2023 |
| 4 | Morocco | 3.5% | 2025 |
| 5 | South Sudan | 3.4% | 2025 |
| 6 | Burkina Faso | 3.3% | 2025 |
| 7 | Burundi | 3.2% | 2025 |
| 8 | Chad | 3.2% | 2025 |
| 9 | Botswana | 3.1% | 2025 |
| 10 | Namibia | 2.8% | 2025 |
| 11 | Mauritania | 2.7% | 2025 |
| 12 | Tunisia | 2.5% | 2025 |
| 13 | Central African Republic | 2.3% | 2025 |
| 14 | Niger | 2.1% | 2025 |
| 15 | Guinea | 2% | 2025 |
| 16 | Uganda | 2% | 2025 |
| 17 | Togo | 1.9% | 2025 |
| 18 | Mozambique | 1.9% | 2025 |
| 19 | Gabon | 1.7% | 2025 |
| 20 | Lesotho | 1.6% | 2025 |
| 21 | Eswatini | 1.6% | 2025 |
| 22 | Senegal | 1.6% | 2025 |
| 23 | Somalia | 1.5% | 2025 |
| 24 | Angola | 1.4% | 2025 |
| 25 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 1.4% | 2025 |
| 26 | Republic of the Congo | 1.3% | 2025 |
| 27 | Rwanda | 1.3% | 2025 |
| 28 | Zambia | 1.3% | 2025 |
| 29 | Seychelles | 1.2% | 2025 |
| 30 | Tanzania | 1.2% | 2025 |
| 31 | Malawi | 1.1% | 2025 |
| 32 | Kenya | 1.1% | 2025 |
| 33 | Cameroon | 1.1% | 2025 |
| 34 | Nigeria | 0.9% | 2025 |
| 35 | Equatorial Guinea | 0.9% | 2025 |
| 36 | Benin | 0.9% | 2025 |
| 37 | Guinea-Bissau | 0.9% | 2025 |
| 38 | Liberia | 0.9% | 2025 |
| 39 | Cote d'Ivoire | 0.8% | 2025 |
| 40 | South Africa | 0.7% | 2025 |
| 41 | Cabo Verde | 0.7% | 2025 |
| 42 | Madagascar | 0.6% | 2025 |
| 43 | Egypt | 0.6% | 2025 |
| 44 | Gambia | 0.6% | 2025 |
| 45 | Zimbabwe | 0.6% | 2025 |
| 46 | Ethiopia | 0.5% | 2025 |
| 47 | Ghana | 0.5% | 2025 |
| 48 | Sierra Leone | 0.4% | 2025 |
| 49 | Mauritius | 0.1% | 2025 |
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207 indicators, each ranked across the African countries that carry it.