Military profile
Tunisia Military Strength
Tunisia ranks #73 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 90,000 active personnel. It spent $1.5 billion on its military in 2025 (2.5% of GDP).
Tunisia armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 90,000#49 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 0#84 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 10,000#66 of 145
- Army personnel
- 65,000#53 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 4,500#80 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 6,500#55 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 152#56 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 11#75 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 0#65 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 101#37 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 0#79 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 145#73 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 0#96 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 105#63 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
- 36#27 of 113
- Mine warfare vessels
- 0#53 of 113
Finance
- Military spending
- $1.5 billion#73 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 2.5%#41 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $115.0 billion#81 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Tunisia military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of Tunisia grew by 160% between 2010 and 2025, from $571 million to $1.5 billion (current US dollars), and stood at 2.5% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of Tunisia
Branches and forces
Tunisian Armed Forces (Forces Armées Tunisiennes, FAT): Tunisian Army (includes Air Defense Force), Tunisian Navy, Tunisia Air Force Ministry of Interior (MoI): Internal Security Forces (National Police, National Guard) (2025)
Personnel
approximately 35,000 active-duty Armed Forces (2025)
Service age and conscription
18 years of age for voluntary service for men and women; men 20-35 years of age subject to 12 months of compulsory national service (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the Tunisian military's inventory consists mostly of older or secondhand equipment from a variety of suppliers, including Austria, France, Italy, Türkiye, and the US (2025)
Deployments abroad
840 Central African Republic (MINUSCA) (2025)
Good to know
the Tunisian Armed Forces (FAT) are responsible for territorial defense and internal security; operational areas of focus include counterterrorism and assisting with securing the border regions, particularly along the frontiers with Algerian and Libya the FAT conducts bilateral and multinational training exercises with a variety of countries, including Algeria and other North African and Middle Eastern countries, France, and the US, as well as NATO; it also participates in UN peacekeeping operations; Tunisia has Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) status with the US, a designation under US law that provides foreign partners with certain benefits in the areas of defense trade and security cooperation (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2024: 2.5% · 2023: 2.5% · 2022: 2.7% · 2021: 3% · 2020: 3%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
Algeria
Libya