South Africa
Military spending per person in South Africa
Military spending per person in South Africa: $113 in 1988 and $49 in 2025, by SIPRI estimates.
- Latest, 2025
- $49
- Since 1988
- −$63
- Rank, 2025
- 100 of 151
- counting from the highest
US dollars per person · SIPRI
What the numbers say
- The highest was $113 in 1988, the lowest $37 in 2002.
Every year
US dollars per person · SIPRI
| Year | South Africa |
|---|---|
| 2025 | $49 |
| 2024 | $48 |
| 2023 | $49 |
| 2022 | $56 |
| 2021 | $58 |
| 2020 | $54 |
| 2019 | $58 |
| 2018 | $62 |
| 2017 | $63 |
| 2016 | $55 |
| 2015 | $62 |
| 2014 | $71 |
| 2013 | $76 |
| 2012 | $84 |
| 2011 | $87 |
| 2010 | $81 |
| 2009 | $70 |
| 2008 | $65 |
| 2007 | $70 |
| 2006 | $70 |
| 2005 | $72 |
| 2004 | $64 |
| 2003 | $53 |
| 2002 | $37 |
| 2001 | $38 |
| 2000 | $40 |
| 1999 | $37 |
| 1998 | $41 |
| 1997 | $53 |
| 1996 | $58 |
| 1995 | $74 |
| 1994 | $79 |
| 1993 | $76 |
| 1992 | $87 |
| 1991 | $94 |
| 1990 | $109 |
| 1989 | $107 |
| 1988 | $113 |
- Estimate
Good to know
- What the country spends on its armed forces and defence for each person living there, in US dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation.
- Source: Information from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Military Expenditure Database, https://doi.org/10.55163/CQGC9685.
- Marked points are SIPRI’s own: a dot where it gives the figure as its estimate, a ring where it calls the figure highly uncertain.
- Ranks count the 151 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
South Africa in numbers
Every measure for South Africa on one page
Health
People
Economy
Education
Politics
Conflict
Military
- Military spending0.74% of GDP in 2025
- Military spending in US dollars$3B in 2025
- Military share of state spending2.2% of government spending in 2025
- Armed forces personnel89,000 people in 2020
- National power0.55% of world capability in 2022
- Armed forces, share of workers0.4% of the labour force in 2020
- Arms imports30 million TIV in 2025
- Arms exports115 million TIV in 2025