Military Strength: Benin vs Malawi

Benin (ranked #145 globally) holds a stronger overall military position than Malawi (#149) on the ARMS Index. Benin fields 12,000 active troops vs 15,000 for Malawi, backed by 4,200 paramilitary. Benin allocates $0.2B to defense compared to $0.09B for Malawi.

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

BeninWorld #145 10.4

ARMS Index / 100

Benin leads overall, ahead on 2 of 6 pillars

MalawiWorld #149 9.8

45.012K active troops Manpower15 % 47.615K 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 % 13.80 combat aircraft
0.00 warheads Nuclear deterrent10 % 0.00 warheads
20.0$150M budget Defense budget10 % 16.9$90M budget

Benin Malawi Pillar scores 0–100 (weight under each label) over a headline figure from that domain · readiness modifier ×0.96 vs ×0.90 · Methodology

Key figures

	Benin	Malawi	Ratio
Defense budget	$150M	$90M	🇧🇯 1.7×
– share of GDP	0.7%	0.8%	🇲🇼 1.1×
Active personnel	12,000	15,000	🇲🇼 1.2×
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	4,200	🇧🇯 1.1×
Military aircraft (all types)	11	11	—
– helicopters	9	8	🇧🇯 1.1×
Budget share of govt spending	—	—	—
Budget per capita	$10	$4	🇧🇯 2.5×
Population	14.5M	21.7M	🇲🇼 1.5×
GDP	$21B	$11B	🇧🇯 1.9×
GDP per capita	$1,485	$523	🇧🇯 2.8×
Land area	114,305 km²	94,080 km²	🇧🇯 1.2×
Coastline	121 km	0 km	🇧🇯