Military profile
Ghana Military Strength
Ghana ranks #109 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 14,000 active personnel. It spent $507 million on its military in 2025 (0.5% of GDP).
Ghana armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 14,000#113 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 0#84 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 0#113 of 145
- Army personnel
- 75,000#49 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 5,000#73 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 3,500#67 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 20#115 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 0#95 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 0#65 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 11#113 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 0#79 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 0#115 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 0#96 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 6#103 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 15#81 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
- 23#42 of 113
- Mine warfare vessels
- 0#53 of 113
Finance
- Military spending
- $507 million#104 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 0.5%#146 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $164.8 billion#72 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Ghana military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of Ghana grew by 313% between 2010 and 2025, from $123 million to $507 million (current US dollars), and stood at 0.5% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of Ghana
Branches and forces
Ghana Armed Forces (GAF): Army, Air Force, Ghana Navy Ministry of Interior: Ghana Police Service (2025)
Personnel
estimated 15-20,000 active Armed Forces (2025)
Service age and conscription
18-27 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the military's inventory is a mix of older (mostly Soviet-era) and some newer armaments from such suppliers as China, Japan, Jordan, Türkiye, the UK, and the US; the government has committed to an increase in funding for equipment acquisitions, including armor, mechanized, and special forces capabilities for the Army, light attack aircraft for the Air Force, and more modern coastal patrol vessels for the Navy (2025)
Deployments abroad
875 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 725 (plus about 275 police) South Sudan (UNMISS); 670 Sudan (UNISFA) (2025)
Good to know
the military’s primary missions are border defense, assisting with internal security, peacekeeping, and protecting the country’s territorial waters, particularly its offshore oil and gas infrastructure; it has benefited from cooperation with foreign partners, such as the UK and the US, and experience gained from participation in multiple international peacekeeping missions in recent years, Ghana has expanded the Army and reinforced its presence in the northern part of the country to shore up porous borders, interdict smuggling routes, and counter threats from the terrorist organization Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), a coalition of al-Qa'ida linked militant groups which has a considerable presence in Burkina Faso and has conducted attacks in Cote d'Ivoire and Togo; Ghana has also made efforts to increase the Navy's capabilities to protect its maritime claims and counter threats such as piracy and illegal fishing (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2024: 0.4% · 2023: 0.4% · 2022: 0.4% · 2021: 0.5% · 2020: 0.4%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
Ghana compared with its neighbours
| Country | Strength rank | Military spending |
|---|---|---|
| Ghana | #109 | $507 million |
 Togo | — | $205 million |
 Côte d'Ivoire | #105 | $759 million |
 Burkina Faso | #121 | $892 million |