Libya vs Yemen: Military spending as a share of GDP
Libya
7.7%
in 2016
Yemen
8.6%
in 2016
Libya rank
4th
Yemen rank
2nd
Military spending as a share of GDP over time
- Libya
- Yemen
How they compare
Yemen currently reports 8.6% against 7.7% in Libya, a difference of 0.9%.
That makes Yemen's figure about 1.1 times Libya's.
The two have swapped places 11 times across 66 shared years of data; in 1951 it was Libya ahead.
Libya ranks 4th and Yemen ranks 2nd of 172 countries.
Yemen has averaged higher in every one of the 7 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Libya | Yemen | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 1.3% | 1.5% | 0.2% | Yemen |
| 1960s | 1.1% | 1.6% | 0.5% | Yemen |
| 1970s | 2.6% | 2.9% | 0.3% | Yemen |
| 1980s | 6.8% | 7.4% | 0.6% | Yemen |
| 1990s | 3.6% | 8.8% | 5.2% | Yemen |
| 2000s | 1.1% | 3.9% | 2.7% | Yemen |
| 2010s | 5.4% | 5.7% | 0.3% | Yemen |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher military spending as a share of gdp, Libya or Yemen?
- Yemen, at 8.6% against 7.7% in Libya as of 2016.
- What is the difference in military spending as a share of gdp between Libya and Yemen?
- 0.9%, with Yemen ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Libya and Yemen?
- 66 years are reported by both, from 1951 to 2016.
- How do Libya and Yemen rank globally for military spending as a share of gdp?
- Libya ranks 4th and Yemen ranks 2nd 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).