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

Military spending per person in South AfricaMilitary spending per person in South Africa: $113 in 1988 and $49 in 2025, by SIPRI estimates. The highest was $113 in 1988, the lowest $37 in 2002.
Estimates, SIPRISIPRI estimate

What the numbers say

  • The highest was $113 in 1988, the lowest $37 in 2002.

Every year

US dollars per person · SIPRI

YearSouth 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

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