Afghanistan vs Qatar: Military spending as a share of GDP
Afghanistan
3.3%
in 2019
Qatar
3.4%
in 2019
Afghanistan rank
19th
Qatar rank
18th
Military spending as a share of GDP over time
- Afghanistan
- Qatar
How they compare
Qatar currently reports 3.4% against 3.3% in Afghanistan, a difference of 0.1%.
The two have swapped places 6 times across 48 shared years of data; in 1971 it was Qatar ahead.
Afghanistan ranks 19th and Qatar ranks 18th of 172 countries.
Across the 5 decades both report, Afghanistan averaged higher in 1 and Qatar in 4.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Afghanistan | Qatar | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1.3% | 4.5% | 3.2% | Qatar |
| 1980s | 5.3% | 7.0% | 1.7% | Qatar |
| 1990s | 7.7% | 7.7% | 0.0% | Qatar |
| 2000s | 2.3% | 3.2% | 0.9% | Qatar |
| 2010s | 4.9% | 2.1% | 2.8% | Afghanistan |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher military spending as a share of gdp, Afghanistan or Qatar?
- Qatar, at 3.4% against 3.3% in Afghanistan as of 2019.
- What is the difference in military spending as a share of gdp between Afghanistan and Qatar?
- 0.1%, with Qatar ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Afghanistan and Qatar?
- 48 years are reported by both, from 1971 to 2019.
- How do Afghanistan and Qatar rank globally for military spending as a share of gdp?
- Afghanistan ranks 19th and Qatar ranks 18th of 172 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) β with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as Military spending as a share of GDP. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Military spending measured as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP).