Military Strength: Kenya vs Nigeria

Nigeria (ranked #61 globally) holds a stronger overall military position than Kenya (#74) on the ARMS Index. Nigeria fields 223,000 active troops — 9.3:1 Kenya's 24,000, backed by 80,000 paramilitary. Kenya allocates $1.3B to defense compared to $1.5B for Nigeria.

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

KenyaWorld #74 29.2

ARMS Index / 100

Nigeria leads on 5 of 6 pillars

NigeriaWorld #61 34.8

53.924K active troops Manpower15 % 70.7223K active troops
47.0188 battle tanks Ground forces20 % 55.0330 battle tanks
12.625 warships Naval power20 % 36.5147 warships
36.223 combat aircraft Air power25 % 39.124 combat aircraft
0.00 warheads Nuclear deterrent10 % 0.00 warheads
35.5$1.3B budget Defense budget10 % 43.4$1.5B budget

Kenya Nigeria Pillar scores 0–100 (weight under each label) over a headline figure from that domain · readiness modifier ×1.03 vs ×0.91 · Methodology

Key figures

	Kenya	Nigeria	Ratio
Defense budget	$1.3B	$1.5B	🇳🇬 1.1×
– share of GDP	1.1%	0.6%	🇰🇪 1.8×
Active personnel	24,000	223,000	🇳🇬 9.3×
Combat aircraft	23	24	🇳🇬 ≈
Warships	25	147	🇳🇬 5.9×
– submarines	0	0	—
Main battle tanks	188	330	🇳🇬 1.8×
Nuclear warheads	0	0	—

Show full breakdown · 11 more rowsHide the 11 extra rows

Reserve troops	0	0	—
Paramilitary forces	5,000	80,000	🇳🇬 16×
Military aircraft (all types)	120	164	🇳🇬 1.4×
– helicopters	45	73	🇳🇬 1.6×
Budget share of govt spending	—	—	—
Budget per capita	$23	$7	🇰🇪 3.6×
Population	56.4M	232.7M	🇳🇬 4.1×
GDP	$120B	$252B	🇳🇬 2.1×
GDP per capita	$2,132	$1,084	🇰🇪 2.0×
Land area	569,140 km²	910,768 km²	🇳🇬 1.6×
Coastline	536 km	853 km	🇳🇬 1.6×