Which has higher military spending as a share of gdp, Libya or Syrian Arab Republic?

Syrian Arab Republic, at 10.7% against 7.7% in Libya as of 2016.

What is the difference in military spending as a share of gdp between Libya and Syrian Arab Republic?

3.0%, with Syrian Arab Republic ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for Libya and Syrian Arab Republic?

64 years are reported by both, from 1951 to 2016.

Where does this data come from?

Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – 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.

Libya vs Syrian Arab Republic: Military spending as a share of GDP

Libya

7.7%

in 2016

Syrian Arab Republic

10.7%

in 2016

Libya rank

4th

Syrian Arab Republic rank

1st

Military spending as a share of GDP over time

Libya
Syrian Arab Republic

How they compare

Syrian Arab Republic currently reports 10.7% against 7.7% in Libya, a difference of 3.0%.

That makes Syrian Arab Republic's figure about 1.4 times Libya's.

Across all 64 years both countries report, Syrian Arab Republic has been ahead every year.

Libya ranks 4th and Syrian Arab Republic ranks 1st of 172 countries.

Syrian Arab Republic has averaged higher in every one of the 7 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Libya	Syrian Arab Republic	Difference	Ahead
1950s	1.4%	4.0%	2.6%	Syrian Arab Republic
1960s	1.1%	7.3%	6.2%	Syrian Arab Republic
1970s	2.6%	12.0%	9.4%	Syrian Arab Republic
1980s	6.8%	21.7%	15.0%	Syrian Arab Republic
1990s	3.6%	10.7%	7.1%	Syrian Arab Republic
2000s	1.1%	3.8%	2.7%	Syrian Arab Republic
2010s	5.4%	7.6%	2.2%	Syrian Arab Republic

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher military spending as a share of gdp, Libya or Syrian Arab Republic?: Syrian Arab Republic, at 10.7% against 7.7% in Libya as of 2016.
What is the difference in military spending as a share of gdp between Libya and Syrian Arab Republic?: 3.0%, with Syrian Arab Republic ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Libya and Syrian Arab Republic?: 64 years are reported by both, from 1951 to 2016.
How do Libya and Syrian Arab Republic rank globally for military spending as a share of gdp?: Libya ranks 4th and Syrian Arab Republic ranks 1st of 172 countries.
Where does this data come from?: Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – 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.

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Libya vs Syrian Arab Republic: Military spending as a share of GDP. Statizoid, drawing on Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 06 September 2026, from https://economy.statizoid.com/compare/military-spending-as-a-share-of-gdp-gmsd/libya/syrian-arab-republic/

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<a href="https://economy.statizoid.com/compare/military-spending-as-a-share-of-gdp-gmsd/libya/syrian-arab-republic/">Libya vs Syrian Arab Republic: Military spending as a share of GDP</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator: Military spending as a share of GDP
Unit: % of GDP
Source: Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 172 places, 14,793 data points, 1816–2019
Last refreshed: 28 August 2026

Military spending measured as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP).