Published: November 4, 2026
One country now outspends a region of more than 40 nations on defence. Algeria spent $25.4 billion on its military in 2025. Every country in Sub-Saharan Africa combined spent $23.3 billion. The gap is $2.1 billion, and it opened in a single year: Algeria raised its spending by 11% in real terms, while the sub-Saharan total grew by 7.4%.
The context makes the chart starker. Africa as a whole spent $58.2 billion on its militaries in 2025, so Algeria alone accounts for about 44% of all defence spending on the continent. North Africa spent $35.0 billion of that total. The second biggest spender in Africa, Morocco, spent $6.3 billion, which means Algeria spends about four times its regional rival. Inside Sub-Saharan Africa, the largest spender is South Africa at $3.2 billion, followed by Nigeria, whose budget jumped 55% to $2.1 billion as its security crisis deepened. Neither comes close to the Algerian figure on its own, and all of them together still fall short.
Why it matters
Algeria is not just spending a lot of money. It is spending a lot of its country. Defence took 8.8% of Algeria's GDP in 2025 and 25% of all government expenditure. That share of government spending is the second highest in the world, behind only Ukraine, a country fighting a full scale war. Oil and gas revenue pays the bill, and Algiers points to real pressures: a long rivalry with Morocco over Western Sahara, and jihadist violence across the Sahel on its southern borders. Critics ask what a quarter of the state budget buys in security, and what it costs in schools, hospitals and jobs in a country where youth unemployment is high. Both arguments start from the same chart.
This comparison draws on the same SIPRI release behind our ranking of the biggest defence budgets in Africa, where Algeria also ranks first. No other country in that ranking comes within $19 billion of it.
Data Sources
- SIPRI, Trends in World Military Expenditure 2025, April 2026 (Algeria $25.4bn; Sub-Saharan Africa $23.3bn; Africa total $58.2bn; North Africa $35.0bn; Morocco $6.3bn; Algeria 8.8% of GDP and 25% of government expenditure).
- Ecofin Agency, Persistent tensions drive Africa's military spending up 8.5% to $58 billion, April 2026 (reports the same SIPRI figures, including South Africa $3.2bn and Nigeria $2.1bn, up 55%).
Methodology
SIPRI measures military expenditure in current US dollars, covering armed forces, defence ministries and military aid in the donor's budget. Figures are for calendar year 2025, from SIPRI's April 2026 release, the latest available. The Sub-Saharan Africa total is SIPRI's regional aggregate, which excludes the North African states. Percentage changes are in real terms. Every derived figure in this post, including the $2.1 billion gap, the 44% continental share and the four times comparison with Morocco, was recomputed from the published totals before publication.
