Military profile
Mali Military Strength
Mali ranks #110 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 18,000 active personnel. It spent $953 million on its military in 2025 (3.9% of GDP).
Mali armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 18,000#102 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 0#84 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 2,000#100 of 145
- Army personnel
- 12,500#108 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 350#128 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 0#113 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 39#99 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 9#82 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 6#53 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 12#109 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 9#49 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 50#91 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 0#96 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 15#95 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 45#54 of 145
Finance
- Military spending
- $953 million#84 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 3.9%#14 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $44.0 billion#112 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Mali military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of Mali grew by 549% between 2010 and 2025, from $147 million to $953 million (current US dollars), and stood at 3.9% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of Mali
Branches and forces
Malian Armed Forces (Forces Armées Maliennes or FAMa): Army (l’Armée de Terre), Air Force (l’Armée de l’Air); National Guard (la Garde Nationale du Mali); National Gendarmerie of Mali (Gendarmerie Nationale du Mali) (2025)
Personnel
information varies; estimated 35-40,000 active FAMa, Gendarmerie, and National Guard (2025)
Service age and conscription
18 years of age for men and women for selective compulsory and voluntary military service; 24-month compulsory service obligation (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the FAMa's inventory includes mostly Soviet-era weapons and equipment along with smaller quantities of more modern material from a variety of suppliers, including France, Russia, South Africa, Türkiye, and the UAE (2025)
Good to know
the FAMa is responsible for the defense of the country’s sovereignty and territory, but also has some domestic security duties, including the maintenance of public order and support to law enforcement; it also participates in socio-economic development projects; the military has traditionally played a large role in Mali’s politics; prior to the coup in August 2020 and military takeover in May 2021, it had intervened in the political arena at least five times since the country gained independence in 1960 (1968, 1976, 1978, 1991, 2012) the FAMa and other security forces are actively engaged in combat operations against several insurgent/terrorist groups affiliated with al-Qa'ida and the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS), as well as other armed rebel organizations, communal militias, and criminal bands spread across the central, northern, and southern regions of the country; a large portion of the country--up to 50% by some estimates--is outside of government control the FAMa and the remainder of the security forces collapsed in 2012 during the fighting against Tuareg rebels and Islamic militants and were rebuilt beginning in 2013 with external assistance from the EU and the UN; the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and the EU Training Mission in Mali (EUTM) ended their missions in 2023 and 2024, respectively; France intervened militarily in Mali in 2013 to assist with regaining the northern half of the country from rebel and Islamic militant groups; French troops withdrew in 2022; since 2021, Mali has increased security ties with Russia, which has provided equipment, training, and other forms of military support (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2024: 4.3% · 2023: 4% · 2022: 3.5% · 2021: 3.4% · 2020: 3.4%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
Mali compared with its neighbours
| Country | Strength rank | Military spending |
|---|---|---|
| Mali | #110 | $953 million |
 Mauritania | #132 | $322 million |
 Algeria | #26 | $25.4 billion |
 Burkina Faso | #121 | $892 million |
 Guinea | — | $601 million |
 Niger | #119 | $489 million |
 Côte d'Ivoire | #105 | $759 million |
 Senegal | #125 | $567 million |