| Military branches | Benin Armed Forces (Forces Armees Beninoises, FAB): Army, Navy, Air Force; Ministry of Interior and Public Security: Republican Police (Police Republicaine, DGPR) (2021) |
| Military service age and obligation | 18-35 years of age for selective compulsory and voluntary military service; a higher education diploma is required; both sexes are eligible for military service; conscript tour of duty - 18 months (2019) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 0.7% of GDP (2019) 0.9% of GDP (2018) 1.3% of GDP (2017) 1.1% of GDP (2016) 1.1% of GDP (2015) |
| Military and security service personnel strengths | the Benin Armed Forces (FAB) are comprised of approximately 7,000 active duty troops; est. 5,000 Republican Police (2021) |
| Military equipment inventories and acquisitions | the FAB is equipped with a small mix of mostly older French and Soviet-era equipment (2021) |
| Military deployments | 250 Mali (MINUSMA) (Jan 2021) |
| Maritime threats | the International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial and offshore waters in the Niger Delta and Gulf of Guinea remain a very high risk for piracy and armed robbery of ships; in 2020, there were 98 reported incidents of piracy and armed robbery at sea in the Gulf of Guinea region; although a 24% decrease from the total number of incidents in 2019, it included all three hijackings and 9 of 11 ships fired upon worldwide; while boarding and attempted boarding to steal valuables from ships and crews are the most common types of incidents, almost a third of all incidents involve a hijacking and/or kidnapping; in 2020, a record 130 crew members were kidnapped in 22 separate incidents in the Gulf of Guinea, representing 95% of kidnappings worldwide; approximately 51% of all incidents of piracy and armed robbery are taking place off Nigeria, which is a decrease from the 71% in 2019 and an indication pirates are traveling further to target vessels; Nigerian pirates are well armed and very aggressive, operating as far as 200 nm offshore; the Maritime Administration of the US Department of Transportation has issued a Maritime Advisory (2021-002 - Gulf of Guinea-Piracy/Armed Robbery/Kidnapping for Ransom) effective 9 January 2021, which states in part, "Piracy, armed robbery, and kidnapping for ransom continue to serve as significant threats to US-flagged vessels transiting or operating in the Gulf of Guinea.” |
| Military - note | Benin participates in the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) against Boko Haram along with Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria; the Benin military contingent is in charge of MNJTF garrison duties (2020) |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021
