Algeria—this is nothing new—has climbed to the top of Africa in terms of military spending; it now even outspends the continent’s leading military power, Egypt. In 2025, Algiers injected $25.15 billion into armaments and military equipment. To fully grasp the scale of this trajectory, it is worth comparing it with the defence budgets of all of sub-Saharan Africa…
In that part of the continent, military spending surged in 2025, fuelled by a worsening environment and the rise of armed conflicts in several countries across the region. Defence outlays in sub-Saharan Africa totalled $23.6 billion last year—up 19% from 2024—according to a report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
Titled The Military Balance, the London-based think tank’s publication attributes the spike mainly to deteriorating security conditions and the proliferation of regional armed conflicts. The IISS points, in particular, to the war in Sudan (in which the United Arab Emirates is said to have a hand), the bloody conflict between the M23 rebel movement and the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as the fragile peace agreements in Ethiopia and South Sudan.
Nigeria has been a major driver of the swelling security bill south of the Sahara. The West African giant—Africa’s most populous country, and one of its richest yet least developed—has been grappling with a multi-layered security crisis, notably the jihadist threat in the North-East and the spread of organised criminality (kidnappings for ransom) that has been drawing Washington’s ire…
Nigeria has nearly doubled its defence budget, from 1,580 billion naira (about $1.17 billion) in 2024 to 3,100 billion naira (around $2.29 billion) in 2025. But a country whose ambitions extend beyond its borders can—and must—do more to shore up its security. Its vast oil and gas resources provide the means, provided the windfall is properly managed (corruption is pervasive).
South Africa, the continent’s largest economy, has traditionally maintained the biggest defence budget in this part of the world. Yet, paradoxically, its military spending fell by 2.5% in 2025 to 56.8 billion rand (around $3.6 billion).
In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, military expenditure rose by 4.5% in 2025 to $219 billion, excluding US foreign military financing (FMF). The increase is largely explained by the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian movement Hamas, as well as the “12-day war” between Iran and the Israeli state…
Algeria and Israel weigh heavily on the regional trend, accounting for nearly 70% of the increase recorded last year.
Globally, defence spending climbed to $2,630 billion in 2025, up from $2,480 billion in 2024. It rose by 2.5% year-on-year—below the 7% to 8% rates seen in recent years. In the United States, military spending amounted to $921 billion last year, down from $968 billion in 2024. The decline reflects reduced military aid to Ukraine and cuts to President Joe Biden’s final defence budget.
In Russia, spending rose by just 3% to $186.2 billion. Moscow has been forced to streamline its military-industrial system in an attempt to ease a burden that is already weighing heavily on depleted public finances. By contrast, European spending is at record levels: the Old Continent disbursed $563 billion for defence in 2025, up 12.6% from 2024. Europe’s share now exceeds 21% of global spending, compared with 17% in 2022.
A similar trend has played out in Asia, where military spending reached $573 billion (+5.7%) last year. But the figure should be put in perspective: excluding China—whose defence budget is estimated at $251.3 billion—the region’s overall increase falls to 3.7%.
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