Military Strength: Kenya vs Nigeria

Nigeria (ranked #58 globally) holds a stronger overall military position than Kenya (#78) on the ATLAS Index. Nigeria fields 143,000 active troops — 5.9:1 Kenya's 24,100, backed by 80,000 paramilitary. Kenya allocates $1.3B to defense compared to $1.5B for Nigeria.

ATLAS (Aggregate Total of Land, Air and Sea strength) Index face-off Full ranking →

KenyaWorld #78 20.9

ATLAS Index / 100

Nigeria leads on 5 of 6 pillars

NigeriaWorld #58 26.7

29.524K active troops Manpower10 % 47.0143K active troops
26.078 battle tanks Ground forces20 % 36.6330 battle tanks
20.122 warships Naval power20 % 23.0133 warships
22.223 combat aircraft Air power25 % 24.236 combat aircraft
0.00 warheads Nuclear deterrent10 % 0.00 warheads
19.5$1.3B budget Defense budget15 % 24.8$1.5B budget

Kenya Nigeria Pillar scores 0–100 (weight under each label) over a headline figure from that domain · each conventional pillar read after its branch's availability proxy · 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	24,100	143,000	🇳🇬 5.9×
Combat aircraft	23	36	🇳🇬 1.6×
Warships	22	133	🇳🇬 6.0×
– submarines	0	0	—
Main battle tanks	78	330	🇳🇬 4.2×
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)	158	180	🇳🇬 1.1×
– helicopters	83	76	🇰🇪 1.1×
Budget share of govt spending	—	—	—
Budget per capita	$23	$6	🇰🇪 3.6×
Population	57.5M	237.5M	🇳🇬 4.1×
GDP	$136B	$291B	🇳🇬 2.1×
GDP per capita	$2,363	$1,224	🇰🇪 1.9×
Land area	569,140 km²	910,768 km²	🇳🇬 1.6×
Coastline	536 km	853 km	🇳🇬 1.6×