Israel vs Libya: Military spending as a share of GDP
Israel
5.6%
in 2019
Libya
7.7%
in 2016
Israel rank
6th
Libya rank
4th
Military spending as a share of GDP over time
- Israel
- Libya
How they compare
Libya currently reports 7.7% against 5.6% in Israel, a difference of 2.1%.
That makes Libya's figure about 1.4 times Israel's.
The two have swapped places 3 times across 66 shared years of data; in 1951 it was Israel ahead.
Israel ranks 6th and Libya ranks 4th of 172 countries.
Israel has averaged higher in every one of the 7 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Israel | Libya | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 3.0% | 1.3% | 1.7% | Israel |
| 1960s | 5.9% | 1.1% | 4.9% | Israel |
| 1970s | 14.3% | 2.6% | 11.7% | Israel |
| 1980s | 11.2% | 6.8% | 4.4% | Israel |
| 1990s | 6.9% | 3.6% | 3.3% | Israel |
| 2000s | 5.4% | 1.1% | 4.3% | Israel |
| 2010s | 5.5% | 5.4% | 0.0% | Israel |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher military spending as a share of gdp, Israel or Libya?
- Libya, at 7.7% against 5.6% in Israel as of 2016.
- What is the difference in military spending as a share of gdp between Israel and Libya?
- 2.1%, with Libya ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Israel and Libya?
- 66 years are reported by both, from 1951 to 2016.
- How do Israel and Libya rank globally for military spending as a share of gdp?
- Israel ranks 6th and Libya ranks 4th 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).