Military profile
Mauritania Military Strength
Mauritania ranks #132 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 31,500 active personnel. It spent $322 million on its military in 2025 (2.7% of GDP).
Mauritania armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 31,500#80 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 65,000#38 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 5,000#88 of 145
- Army personnel
- 25,000#88 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 2,500#99 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 1,000#87 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 23#111 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 0#95 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 4#57 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 4#128 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 0#79 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 0#115 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 0#96 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 0#107 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 0#98 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
- 3#96 of 113
- Mine warfare vessels
- 0#53 of 113
Finance
- Military spending
- $322 million#115 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 2.7%#37 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $23.0 billion#130 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Mauritania military spending 2012–2025
Military spending of Mauritania grew by 126% between 2012 and 2025, from $142 million to $322 million (current US dollars), and stood at 2.7% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of Mauritania
Branches and forces
Mauritanian Armed Forces (aka Armée Nationale Mauritanienne): National Army, National Navy, Air Force; Gendarmerie Ministry of Interior and Decentralization: National Police, National Guard (2025)
Personnel
estimated 17,000 active Mauritanian Armed Forces; estimated 3,000 Gendarmerie (2025)
Service age and conscription
18 is the legal minimum age for voluntary military service; has a compulsory two-year military service law, but the law has reportedly never been applied (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the military's inventory is limited and made up largely of older French and Soviet-era equipment; in recent years, Mauritania has received some secondhand and new military equipment from several suppliers, including China, France, and the UAE (2025)
Deployments abroad
450 (plus about 325 police) Central African Republic (MINUSCA) (2025)
Good to know
founded in 1960, the Mauritanian military is responsible for territorial defense and internal security; it also assists in economic development projects, humanitarian missions, and disaster response; border and maritime security, regional stability, and the threat of terrorist groups operating in the Sahel, particularly Mali, are key areas of focus; Mauritania has received security assistance from the EU, France, NATO, and the US (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2024: 2.4% · 2023: 2.5% · 2022: 2.5% · 2021: 2.4% · 2020: 2.5%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
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