The annual Global Firepower (GFP) Index offers a fascinating, albeit sometimes opaque, snapshot of military strengths around the world. While comprehensive historical data can be challenging to pinpoint, a look at available rankings reveals a concerning trend for Zimbabwe’s military standing over the past few years.
The GFP Index assesses a nation’s military power based on over 60 factors, including troop numbers, equipment, defense budgets, logistics, and even economic stability. A lower PowerIndex score indicates a stronger conventional fighting capability.
Let’s break down Zimbabwe’s trajectory:
2020: A Snapshot from the Past Just a few years ago, in the 2020 Global Firepower Index, Zimbabwe held a global rank of 91st out of 138 countries. This placed it at 16th strongest in Africa. At the time, it suggested a mid-tier position on the continent, demonstrating a respectable, if not dominant, military presence.
2024: The First Signs of Decline Fast forward to the 2024 index, and we see a noticeable slip. Zimbabwe’s global rank dropped to 101st out of 145 countries, and its African standing fell to 17th. This placed it behind regional neighbours like South Africa, Angola, the DRC, Mozambique, and Zambia, though still ahead of Namibia and Botswana.
A deeper dive into the 2024 data reveals some specific weaknesses, particularly in land warfare capabilities. Zimbabwe was ranked 93rd globally for tanks (with only 11 out of 20 stock tanks ready for use) and 94th for vehicles (1327 ready out of 2412). Most striking, however, was its rank of 145th out of 145 countries for zero self-propelled, towed, and rocket artillery. This suggests significant gaps in key modern conventional warfare components.
2025: A Further Slide Down the Ranks The most recent 2025 Global Firepower Index continues this downward trend. Zimbabwe’s global rank has slipped further to 111th out of 145 nations assessed. Consequently, its position within Africa has also fallen, now standing at 21st. The PowerIndex score for Zimbabwe in 2025 is 2.3863, a clear indicator of its reduced conventional military capability as assessed by the index.
A contributing factor to this decline, as highlighted by the 2025 data, is Zimbabwe’s financial stability. The country was ranked 143rd globally for foreign reserves, with a meager $115.53 million. Such low reserves can severely impact a nation’s ability to procure modern military equipment, maintain existing assets, and fund essential training and operations.
What Does This Trend Mean? The consistent decline in Zimbabwe’s Global Firepower ranking suggests a relative weakening of its military capabilities when compared to other nations, both globally and within Africa. While the GFP Index focuses on conventional military strength and does not account for all aspects of national security, it does provide an indication of a country’s defense readiness and capacity.
For Zimbabwe, this trend points to potential challenges in military modernization, equipment maintenance, and overall resource allocation for its defense sector. The economic factors, particularly the low foreign reserves, appear to be a significant impediment, directly influencing its ability to invest in and maintain a robust modern military.
As the continent’s military landscape continues to evolve with nations like Nigeria making significant advancements, Zimbabwe’s declining standing will be a point of interest for observers of regional power dynamics.
Global Firepower Index – The Methodology:
- The Global Firepower (GFP) Index is an annual ranking that assesses the military strength of countries worldwide.
- It uses over 60 different factors to determine a nation’s “PowerIndex” score (PwrIndx), where a score of 0.0000 is considered optimal (though realistically unattainable). The smaller the PwrIndx value, the more “powerful” a nation’s conventional fighting capability.
- The indicators include:
- Troop size: Active, reserve, and paramilitary personnel.
- Equipment capabilities: Diversity and quantity of weaponry across land (tanks, armored vehicles, artillery), air (fighter jets, helicopters, transport aircraft), and naval (warships, submarines, patrol vessels) forces.
- Defense budget: Financial resources allocated to the military.
- Logistical efficiency: Infrastructure, ports, airports, and merchant marine strength.
- Geographical positioning: Strategic advantages.
- Natural resources: Access to vital resources like oil.
- Economic stability: Factors like purchasing power and foreign reserves.
Egypt’s Dominance:
- Africa Rank: 1st
- Global Rank (2025): 19th (a slight drop from 15th in 2024, but still leading Africa).
- PowerIndex Score: 0.3427
- Key Strengths: Egypt boasts a massive military with approximately 1.2 million armed personnel (440,000 active, 480,000 reserve, 300,000 paramilitary). They possess a large inventory of modern equipment, including over 3,600 military tanks, more than 41,000 land vehicles, and over 1,000 aircraft (including 238 fighter jets). Their substantial defense budget and strategic location further contribute to their top ranking.
Nigeria’s Ascent:
- Africa Rank: 3rd (up from 4th in the previous year).
- Global Rank (2025): 31st (a significant jump from 39th globally last year).
- PowerIndex Score: 0.5771
- Reasons for Rise: Nigeria’s improved ranking is attributed to:
- Increased investment in defense: The country has been boosting its defense budget and acquiring new equipment.
- Enhanced counter-terrorism efforts: Ongoing struggles against groups like Boko Haram and other insurgencies have necessitated a more robust and capable military, leading to focused training and resource allocation.
- Expanding military partnerships: Collaborations and support from international allies likely play a role in their modernization efforts.
- Key Strengths: Nigeria has a total of 280,000 soldiers (230,000 actively engaged), nearly 9,000 military vehicles, 330 tanks, and 163 military aircraft (including 14 fighter jets).
Other Notable African Military Powers (2025 Global Firepower Index):
- Algeria: Ranks 2nd in Africa and 26th globally (PowerIndex Score: 0.3589). They possess a considerable air force with over 600 military aircraft.
- South Africa: Ranks 4th in Africa and 40th globally (PowerIndex Score: 0.6889). It experienced a slight decline from 3rd in Africa and 33rd globally in 2024.
- Ethiopia: Ranks 5th in Africa and 52nd globally.
- Angola: Ranks 6th in Africa and 56th globally.
- Morocco: Ranks 7th in Africa and 59th globally.
- Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): Ranks 8th in Africa and 66th globally.
- Sudan: Ranks 9th in Africa and 73rd globally.
- Libya: Ranks 10th in Africa and 76th globally.
This annual assessment provides a snapshot of conventional military strength, based on a comprehensive set of factors, indicating the current power dynamics on the African continent.
