Military Strength: Ethiopia vs Nigeria

Nigeria (ranked #61 globally) holds a stronger overall military position than Ethiopia (#76) on the ARMS Index. Ethiopia fields 138,000 active troops vs 223,000 for Nigeria, backed by 80,000 paramilitary. Ethiopia allocates $1B to defense compared to $1.5B for Nigeria.

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

EthiopiaWorld #76 28.3

ARMS Index / 100

Nigeria leads on 3 of 6 pillars

NigeriaWorld #61 34.8

81.3138K active troops Manpower15 % 70.7223K active troops
67.1338 battle tanks Ground forces20 % 55.0330 battle tanks
0.00 warships Naval power20 % 36.5147 warships
37.534 combat aircraft Air power25 % 39.124 combat aircraft
0.00 warheads Nuclear deterrent10 % 0.00 warheads
42.0$1B budget Defense budget10 % 43.4$1.5B budget

Ethiopia Nigeria Pillar scores 0–100 (weight under each label) over a headline figure from that domain · readiness modifier ×0.80 vs ×0.91 · Methodology

Key figures

	Ethiopia	Nigeria	Ratio
Defense budget	$1B	$1.5B	🇳🇬 1.4×
– share of GDP	0.7%	0.6%	🇪🇹 1.2×
Active personnel	138,000	223,000	🇳🇬 1.6×
Combat aircraft	34	24	🇪🇹 1.4×
Warships	0	147	🇳🇬
– submarines	0	0	—
Main battle tanks	338	330	🇪🇹 ≈
Nuclear warheads	0	0	—

Show full breakdown · 11 more rowsHide the 11 extra rows

Reserve troops	0	0	—
Paramilitary forces	0	80,000	🇳🇬
Military aircraft (all types)	99	164	🇳🇬 1.7×
– helicopters	31	73	🇳🇬 2.4×
Budget share of govt spending	—	—	—
Budget per capita	$8	$7	🇪🇹 1.2×
Population	132.1M	232.7M	🇳🇬 1.8×
GDP	$150B	$252B	🇳🇬 1.7×
GDP per capita	$1,134	$1,084	🇪🇹 ≈
Land area	1,096,630 km²	910,768 km²	🇪🇹 1.2×
Coastline	0 km	853 km	🇳🇬