Malawi vs South Africa: Military spending as a share of GDP
Malawi
0.7%
in 2019
South Africa
0.7%
in 2019
Malawi rank
140th
South Africa rank
139th
Military spending as a share of GDP over time
- Malawi
- South Africa
How they compare
South Africa currently reports 0.7% against 0.7% in Malawi, a difference of 0.0%.
Across all 56 years both countries report, South Africa has been ahead every year.
Malawi ranks 140th and South Africa ranks 139th of 172 countries.
South Africa has averaged higher in every one of the 6 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Malawi | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.4% | 1.4% | 0.9% | South Africa |
| 1970s | 0.9% | 2.1% | 1.1% | South Africa |
| 1980s | 1.3% | 2.3% | 1.0% | South Africa |
| 1990s | 0.6% | 1.5% | 0.9% | South Africa |
| 2000s | 0.5% | 0.9% | 0.4% | South Africa |
| 2010s | 0.5% | 0.8% | 0.3% | South Africa |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher military spending as a share of gdp, Malawi or South Africa?
- South Africa, at 0.7% against 0.7% in Malawi as of 2019.
- What is the difference in military spending as a share of gdp between Malawi and South Africa?
- 0.0%, with South Africa ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Malawi and South Africa?
- 56 years are reported by both, from 1964 to 2019.
- How do Malawi and South Africa rank globally for military spending as a share of gdp?
- Malawi ranks 140th and South Africa ranks 139th 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).