Military profile
Burkina Faso Military Strength
Burkina Faso ranks #121 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 12,000 active personnel. It spent $892 million on its military in 2025 (3.3% of GDP).
Burkina Faso armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 12,000#118 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 4,500#78 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 250#112 of 145
- Army personnel
- 7,000#126 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 500#120 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 0#113 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 20#115 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 0#95 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 3#62 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 10#115 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 2#68 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 0#115 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 0#96 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 12#96 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 5#93 of 145
Finance
- Military spending
- $892 million#85 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 3.3%#21 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $45.2 billion#110 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Burkina Faso military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of Burkina Faso grew by 621% between 2010 and 2025, from $124 million to $892 million (current US dollars), and stood at 3.3% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of Burkina Faso
Branches and forces
Armed Forces of Burkina Faso (FABF; aka National Armed Forces (FAN), aka Defense and Security Forces (Forces de Défense et de Sécurité or FDS)): Army of Burkina Faso, Air Force of Burkina Faso, National Gendarmerie, National Fire Brigade (Brigade Nationale de Sapeurs-Pompiers or BNSP); Homeland Defense Volunteers (Forcés de Volontaires de Défense pour la Patrie or VDP) Ministry of Territorial Administration, Decentralization and Security (Ministère de l'Administration Territoriale, de la Décentralisation et de la Sécurité): National Police of Burkina Faso (includes Border Police, Judicial Police, and Intervention Units, as well as State and Public Security forces) (2025)
Personnel
estimated 20,000 Armed Forces; estimated 50,000 Homeland Defense Volunteers (2025)
Service age and conscription
generally, 18-35 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; citizens 18-77 years of age are eligible to volunteer for the VDP (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the FABF has a mix of older and some modern armaments from a variety of suppliers, including China, Egypt, France, Russia, South Africa, Türkiye, the UK, and the UAE (2025)
Good to know
the Armed Forces of Burkina Faso (FABF) are responsible for external defense but also have an internal security role and can be called out to assist internal security forces in restoring public order, combating crime, securing the border, and conducting counterterrorism/counterinsurgency/internal defense operations; the FABF has a history of involvement in the country’s politics, having conducted eight coups since its formation in 1960-61, including the most recent in September 2022 the FABF's primary focus is combatting militants of the al-Qa'ida and Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS) terrorist groups, which have operated in Burkina Faso for more than a decade and control portions of the country; Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), a coalition of al-Qa'ida linked militant groups that act as al-Qa'ida in the Land of the Islamic Magreb's (AQIM) arm in the Sahel, is strongest in the north but active in nearly all of the country's 13 provinces, while ISIS in the Greater Sahara (aka ISIS-Sahel) operates in the eastern part of the country (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2024: 4.5% · 2023: 4% · 2022: 2.9% · 2021: 2.4% · 2020: 2.4%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
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