In 2024, military spending across Africa reached $52.1 billion, a 3% increase from the previous year and a 22% rise compared to 2015, according to a new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). This growth unfolded against a global backdrop where defense expenditures hit a record $2.7 trillion, marking the steepest year-on-year surge since the end of the Cold War. While Africa’s military budgets grew overall, the continent revealed stark regional differences, with North Africa pushing expenditures upward and sub-Saharan Africa seeing a decline, shaped by a mix of economic priorities, political shifts, and security demands.
North Africa accounted for a substantial portion of the continent’s military spending, totaling $30.2 billion in 2024. This figure reflects an 8.8% increase from 2023 and a 43% jump from 2015. Algeria and Morocco, the subregion’s dominant players, drove this growth, together making up 90% of North Africa’s total. Algeria, buoyed by revenues from its hydrocarbon sector, boosted its military budget by 12% to $21.8 billion, retaining its status as Africa’s top spender. This amount consumed 21% of the country’s entire government budget, the highest proportion on the continent. Morocco, Algeria’s regional rival, spent $5.5 billion in 2024, a 2.6% increase from the prior year, reversing two consecutive years of cuts. The uptick stemmed largely from rising personnel costs, signaling a shift in budgetary focus after a period of restraint.
Meanwhile, sub-Saharan Africa’s military expenditure moved in the opposite direction, falling to $21.9 billion in 2024. This represents a 3.2% drop from 2023 and a 13% decline since 2015. The reduction was propelled by lower spending in three of the subregion’s biggest players: South Africa, Nigeria, and Ethiopia. South Africa, the leading spender in sub-Saharan Africa, cut its military budget for the fourth year running, landing at $2.8 billion. This was 6.3% less than in 2023 and 25% below 2015 levels. The country’s leadership has chosen to channel resources into economic growth and social services rather than defense, a deliberate fiscal strategy reflecting its domestic priorities.
Not all of sub-Saharan Africa followed this downward trend. In the Sahel, nations under military junta rule—Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger—poured $2.4 billion into their armed forces in 2024. These countries, which experienced coups in 2021, 2022, and 2023 respectively, have ramped up military spending since their takeovers and ended security partnerships with France. Mali’s defense budget grew by 38% between 2020 and 2024, Burkina Faso’s soared by 108% from 2021 to 2024, and Niger’s climbed 56% from 2022 to 2024. Chad, another Sahel nation, also severed military ties with France in 2024 and increased its spending by 43% to $558 million. This pushed its military burden—the share of GDP devoted to defense—to 3.0%, up 0.9 percentage points from the previous year, the largest such increase in Africa.
Globally, military spending trends painted a broader picture of escalation. Total defense expenditures reached $2.718 trillion in 2024, a 9.4% rise from 2023 and a 37% increase since 2015. This translated to $334 per person worldwide and lifted the global military burden to 2.5% of GDP, up from 2.3% the year before. The United States, China, Russia, Germany, and India led the pack, with the U.S. alone accounting for 37% of the world total and the top five nations covering 61%. Spending grew across every region for the second year running, fueled by tensions and conflicts. In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia spent $80.3 billion, while Israel’s $46.5 billion marked its highest outlay since 1967. Iran, however, saw a 10% drop due to inflation and U.S. sanctions crimping its oil income. In Asia and Oceania, China’s $314 billion budget rose for the 30th straight year, joined by increases in Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan amid regional frictions.
Europe’s military spending leaped 17% to $693 billion, the highest since the Cold War, driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine itself allocated $64.7 billion, or 54% of its government budget, though this excluded $60 billion in foreign aid. Including that aid, Ukraine’s total would have hit $125 billion, placing it fourth globally. Russia, by contrast, spent an estimated $149 billion. Sweden, newly joined to NATO in 2024, boosted its budget by 34% as part of a broader European response to the Russian threat. In the Americas, the U.S. dominated with $997 billion, while Central America and the Caribbean saw spending more than double since 2015, led by Mexico’s 39% increase in 2024 to combat crime and drug trafficking.
The SIPRI report ties this global surge to rising tensions and armed conflicts, a dynamic evident in Africa’s varied spending patterns. Xiao Liang, a researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, observed that over 100 countries raised their military budgets in 2024. He noted that as governments tilt toward security, often at the cost of other sectors, the economic and social consequences could linger for years. Jade Guiberteau Ricard, another SIPRI researcher, added that in Europe, rapid spending increases among NATO members stem from Russia’s actions and uncertainty about U.S. commitment, though she cautioned that bigger budgets alone don’t guarantee greater capability or independence.
Africa’s $52.1 billion in military spending in 2024 reflects a continent navigating diverse pressures. North Africa’s growth, led by Algeria and Morocco, contrasts with sub-Saharan Africa’s retreat, tempered by sharp increases in junta-led states like Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, alongside Chad’s leap. These shifts, set against a world spending more on defense than ever, reveal a complex balance of regional rivalries, political upheaval, and global insecurity shaping Africa’s military landscape.
