Belgium vs Ethiopia: Military spending as a share of GDP
Belgium
0.7%
in 2019
Ethiopia
0.8%
in 2019
Belgium rank
137th
Ethiopia rank
135th
Military spending as a share of GDP over time
- Belgium
- Ethiopia
How they compare
Ethiopia currently reports 0.8% against 0.7% in Belgium, a difference of 0.1%.
The two have swapped places 10 times across 114 shared years of data; in 1898 it was Ethiopia ahead.
Belgium ranks 137th and Ethiopia ranks 135th of 172 countries.
Across the 13 decades both report, Belgium averaged higher in 5 and Ethiopia in 8.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Belgium | Ethiopia | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1890s | 0.6% | 1.0% | 0.4% | Ethiopia |
| 1900s | 0.5% | 0.9% | 0.4% | Ethiopia |
| 1910s | 0.6% | 0.8% | 0.2% | Ethiopia |
| 1920s | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.1% | Belgium |
| 1930s | 0.9% | 0.5% | 0.4% | Belgium |
| 1940s | 5.9% | 0.3% | 5.6% | Belgium |
| 1950s | 2.6% | 0.8% | 1.8% | Belgium |
| 1960s | 2.0% | 1.8% | 0.3% | Belgium |
| 1970s | 2.2% | 2.7% | 0.5% | Ethiopia |
| 1980s | 2.0% | 5.1% | 3.1% | Ethiopia |
| 1990s | 1.3% | 3.1% | 1.8% | Ethiopia |
| 2000s | 0.9% | 2.0% | 1.1% | Ethiopia |
| 2010s | 0.7% | 0.8% | 0.0% | Ethiopia |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher military spending as a share of gdp, Belgium or Ethiopia?
- Ethiopia, at 0.8% against 0.7% in Belgium as of 2019.
- What is the difference in military spending as a share of gdp between Belgium and Ethiopia?
- 0.1%, with Ethiopia ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Belgium and Ethiopia?
- 114 years are reported by both, from 1898 to 2019.
- How do Belgium and Ethiopia rank globally for military spending as a share of gdp?
- Belgium ranks 137th and Ethiopia ranks 135th 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).