Nigeria’s Military drops in global ranking, now 39th in the world [see top 20]

The Nigerian military has experienced a decline in the latest global military rankings, dropping three places.

According to the 2024 Global Firepower (GFP) report, Nigeria’s Armed Forces are now ranked 39th out of 145 countries, down from 36th in 2023 and 35th in 2022.

This two-year consecutive drop comes despite the acquisition of advanced fighter jets and other combat equipment, as well as the military’s reported successes in combating terrorism within the country during the same period.

Nigeria’s ranking in Africa has slipped from third to fourth place.

For the 18th consecutive year, the United States remains the top-ranked military globally. GFP noted that the U.S. exhibits “commanding values in many major material, financial, and resource categories.”

Russia, China, and India follow in second, third, and fourth place, respectively.

Other top-ranked countries in the top 20 include include South Korea (5th), the United Kingdom (6th), Japan (7th), Turkey (8th), Pakistan (9th), and Italy (10th).

The top 15 is rounded out by France (11th), Brazil (12th), Indonesia (13th), Iran (14th), and Egypt (15th) while Australia, Israel, Ukraine, Germany, and Spain hold the 16th to 20th positions.

In Africa, Egypt holds the top spot, followed by Algeria, South Africa, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Angola, Morocco, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tunisia, and Sudan.

The GFP report mentions that over 60 factors were considered to determine the rankings, including military units, financial standing, logistical capabilities, and geography.

“The finalised Global Firepower ranking below utilises over 60 individual factors to determine a given nation’s PowerIndex (‘PwrIndx’) score, with categories ranging from the quantity of military units and financial standing to logistical capabilities and geography,” the GFP report states.

“Our unique, in-house formula allows smaller, more technologically advanced nations to compete with larger, less-developed powers. Special modifiers, in the form of bonuses and penalties, are applied to further refine the list, which is compiled annually.”

“For 2024, Nigeria is ranked 39th out of the 145 countries considered for the annual GFP review. The nation holds a PwrIndx* score of 0.5619 (a score of 0.0000 is considered ‘perfect’). This entry was last reviewed on 01/09/2024.”