Military profile
Côte d'Ivoire Military Strength
Côte d'Ivoire ranks #105 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 25,000 active personnel. It spent $759 million on its military in 2025 (0.8% of GDP).
Côte d'Ivoire armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 25,000#88 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 0#84 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 7,000#81 of 145
- Army personnel
- 20,000#94 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 1,000#112 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 1,000#87 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 6#128 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 0#95 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 0#65 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 1#135 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 1#75 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 10#111 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 0#96 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 4#105 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 6#90 of 145
Naval power
- Aircraft carriers
- 0#8 of 113
- Destroyers
- 0#15 of 113
- Frigates
- 0#56 of 113
- Corvettes
- 0#47 of 113
- Submarines
- 0#44 of 113
- Patrol vessels
- 6#86 of 113
- Mine warfare vessels
- 0#53 of 113
Finance
- Military spending
- $759 million#88 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 0.8%#131 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $135.0 billion#77 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Côte d'Ivoire military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of Côte d'Ivoire grew by 96% between 2010 and 2025, from $388 million to $759 million (current US dollars), and stood at 0.8% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of Côte d'Ivoire
Branches and forces
Armed Forces of Cote d'Ivoire (Forces Armees de Cote d'Ivoire, FACI; aka Republican Forces of Ivory Coast, FRCI): Army, National Navy, Air Force, Special Forces; National Gendarmerie Ministry of Security and Civil Protection: National Police (2025)
Personnel
approximately 25-30,000 active FACI, including Gendarmerie personnel (2025)
Service age and conscription
18-26 (up to 35 for healthcare professionals) years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; conscription is authorized but reportedly not enforced (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the inventory of the FACI consists mostly of older or secondhand armaments, typically of French or Soviet-era origin; in recent years, it has received small quantities of newer and secondhand equipment from a variety of suppliers, including Bulgaria, China, France, Israel, South Africa, and the US (2025)
Deployments abroad
180 Central African Republic (MINUSCA) (2025)
Good to know
the military (FACI) is responsible for external defense but also has a considerable internal role supporting the National Gendarmerie and other internal security forces; key areas of focus for the FACI are the country's porous international borders and the threat posed by Islamic militants associated with the al-Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) terrorist group operating across the border in Burkina Faso and Mali; AQIM militants conducted attacks in the country in 2016 and 2020; Côte d’Ivoire since 2016 has stepped up border security and completed building a joint counter-terrorism training center with France near Abidjan in 2020; Cote d'Ivoire has long maintained a close security relationship with France the FACI has mutinied several times since the late 1990s, most recently in 2017, and has had a large role in the country’s political turmoil; it was established in 1960 from home defense units the French colonial government began standing up in 1950 (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2024: 0.8% · 2023: 0.9% · 2022: 0.9% · 2021: 1.1% · 2020: 1.1%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
Côte d'Ivoire compared with its neighbours
| Country | Strength rank | Military spending |
|---|---|---|
| Côte d'Ivoire | #105 | $759 million |
 Guinea | — | $601 million |
 Liberia | #141 | $44 million |
 Ghana | #109 | $507 million |
 Mali | #110 | $953 million |
 Burkina Faso | #121 | $892 million |