Military Strength: Burkina Faso vs Cameroon

Burkina Faso (ranked #124 globally) holds a stronger overall military position than Cameroon (#128) on the ARMS Index. Cameroon fields 34,000 active troops — 3.1:1 Burkina Faso's 11,000, backed by 9,000 paramilitary. Burkina Faso allocates $1B to defense compared to $0.5B for Cameroon.

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

Burkina FasoWorld #124 15.3

ARMS Index / 100

Burkina Faso leads overall, ahead on 1 of 6 pillars

CameroonWorld #128 14.8

48.011K active troops Manpower15 % 54.734K active troops
0.00 battle tanks Ground forces20 % 0.00 battle tanks
0.00 warships Naval power20 % 0.00 warships
24.43 combat aircraft Air power25 % 25.56 combat aircraft
0.00 warheads Nuclear deterrent10 % 0.00 warheads
33.6$1B budget Defense budget10 % 28.6$533M budget

Burkina Faso Cameroon Pillar scores 0–100 (weight under each label) over a headline figure from that domain · readiness modifier ×1.06 vs ×0.96 · Methodology

Key figures

	Burkina Faso	Cameroon	Ratio
Defense budget	$1B	$533M	🇧🇫 2.0×
– share of GDP	4.5%	1.0%	🇧🇫 4.5×
Active personnel	11,000	34,000	🇨🇲 3.1×
Combat aircraft	3	6	🇨🇲 2.0×
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	5,000	9,000	🇨🇲 1.8×
Military aircraft (all types)	26	35	🇨🇲 1.3×
– helicopters	19	21	🇨🇲 1.1×
Budget share of govt spending	—	—	—
Budget per capita	$44	$18	🇧🇫 2.4×
Population	23.5M	29.1M	🇨🇲 1.2×
GDP	$23B	$53B	🇨🇲 2.3×
GDP per capita	$982	$1,830	🇨🇲 1.9×
Land area	273,602 km²	472,710 km²	🇨🇲 1.7×
Coastline	0 km	402 km	🇨🇲