Malawi vs Zambia

Malawi vs Zambia: Military share of state spending

Military share of state spending in 2025: 3.8% of government spending in Malawi and 4.5% of government spending in Zambia, by SIPRI estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in Zambia, by 0.7 percentage points, or 1.17 times that in Malawi.

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% of government spending · SIPRI

Malawi vs Zambia: Military share of state spendingMilitary share of state spending in 2025: 3.8% of government spending in Malawi and 4.5% of government spending in Zambia, by SIPRI estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in Zambia, by 0.7 percentage points, or 1.17 times that in Malawi.
MalawiZambia

What the numbers say

  • Zambia has been higher since 2021, when it overtook Malawi.
  • In 2025, Malawi ranked 108 and Zambia ranked 88 of 150 countries, counting from the highest.

Every year

% of government spending · SIPRI

YearMalawiZambia
20253.84.5
20243.45.2
20234.34.9
20223.54
20213.13.2
20203.73.4
20193.94.2
201835.2
20172.55.2
20162.36
20152.36.3
20143.26.7
20133.95.7
20122.96.2
20112.86.7
20102.67.7
20093.38.1
20082.98
20072.68.3
20063.18.2
20054.37.5
20042.66.8
20031.9–
20022.2–

Each country on its own

Good to know

  • The part of everything the government spends that goes on its armed forces and defence, by SIPRI’s count.
  • Source: Information from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Military Expenditure Database, https://doi.org/10.55163/CQGC9685.
  • Ranks count the 150 countries with a value in 2025, highest first.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time

Malawi vs Zambia

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