Military Strength: Benin vs Lesotho

Benin (ranked #145 globally) holds a stronger overall military position than Lesotho (#155) on the ARMS Index. Benin fields 12,000 active troops — 6.0:1 Lesotho's 2,000, backed by 4,800 paramilitary. Benin's $0.2B defense budget is 4.4:1 that of Lesotho ($0.03B).

ARMS (Aggregate Rating of Military Strength) Index face-off Full ranking →

BeninWorld #145 10.4

ARMS Index / 100

Benin leads on 3 of 6 pillars

LesothoWorld #155 7.8

45.012K active troops Manpower15 % 33.92,000 active troops
0.00 battle tanks Ground forces20 % 0.00 battle tanks
0.00 warships Naval power20 % 0.00 warships
14.20 combat aircraft Air power25 % 12.60 combat aircraft
0.00 warheads Nuclear deterrent10 % 0.00 warheads
20.0$150M budget Defense budget10 % 11.5$34M budget

Benin Lesotho Pillar scores 0–100 (weight under each label) over a headline figure from that domain · readiness modifier ×0.96 vs ×0.95 · Methodology

Key figures

	Benin	Lesotho	Ratio
Defense budget	$150M	$34M	🇧🇯 4.4×
– share of GDP	0.7%	1.5%	🇱🇸 2.1×
Active personnel	12,000	2,000	🇧🇯 6.0×
Combat aircraft	0	0	—
Warships	0	0	—
– submarines	0	0	—
Main battle tanks	0	0	—
Nuclear warheads	0	0	—

Show full breakdown · 11 more rowsHide the 11 extra rows

Reserve troops	0	0	—
Paramilitary forces	4,800	0	🇧🇯
Military aircraft (all types)	11	9	🇧🇯 1.2×
– helicopters	9	6	🇧🇯 1.5×
Budget share of govt spending	—	—	—
Budget per capita	$10	$15	🇱🇸 1.4×
Population	14.5M	2.3M	🇧🇯 6.2×
GDP	$21B	$2.3B	🇧🇯 9.5×
GDP per capita	$1,485	$972	🇧🇯 1.5×
Land area	114,305 km²	30,355 km²	🇧🇯 3.8×
Coastline	121 km	0 km	🇧🇯