South Africa - Military expenditure

Military expenditure (current USD)

The latest value for Military expenditure (current USD) in South Africa was 3,150,829,000 as of 2020. Over the past 60 years, the value for this indicator has fluctuated between 4,594,154,000 in 2011 and 69,999,970 in 1960.

Definition: Military expenditures data from SIPRI are derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces; defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects; paramilitary forces, if these are judged to be trained and equipped for military operations; and military space activities. Such expenditures include military and civil personnel, including retirement pensions of military personnel and social services for personnel; operation and maintenance; procurement; military research and development; and military aid (in the military expenditures of the donor country). Excluded are civil defense and current expenditures for previous military activities, such as for veterans' benefits, demobilization, conversion, and destruction of weapons. This definition cannot be applied for all countries, however, since that would require much more detailed information than is available about what is included in military budgets and off-budget military expenditure items. (For example, military budgets might or might not cover civil defense, reserves and auxiliary forces, police and paramilitary forces, dual-purpose forces such as military and civilian police, military grants in kind, pensions for military personnel, and social security contributions paid by one part of government to another).

Source: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Yearbook: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security.

See also:

Year Value
1960 69,999,970
1961 113,750,000
1962 186,199,900
1963 188,999,900
1964 271,599,900
1965 289,449,900
1966 324,449,900
1967 373,099,800
1968 399,699,800
1969 425,599,800
1970 417,899,800
1971 485,866,500
1972 492,386,600
1973 752,926,300
1974 1,102,318,000
1975 1,431,695,000
1976 1,677,275,000
1977 2,073,738,000
1978 2,067,988,000
1979 2,160,867,000
1980 2,661,671,000
1981 3,011,980,000
1982 2,744,700,000
1983 3,052,688,000
1984 2,770,152,000
1985 2,117,406,000
1986 2,497,889,000
1987 3,595,969,000
1988 4,263,087,000
1989 4,181,886,000
1990 4,364,458,000
1991 3,874,415,000
1992 3,677,406,000
1993 3,254,313,000
1994 3,478,582,000
1995 3,292,446,000
1996 2,591,787,000
1997 2,414,138,000
1998 1,905,656,000
1999 1,738,037,000
2000 1,891,725,000
2001 1,802,262,000
2002 1,766,083,000
2003 2,574,176,000
2004 3,099,065,000
2005 3,566,964,000
2006 3,506,140,000
2007 3,525,684,000
2008 3,285,925,000
2009 3,592,688,000
2010 4,188,168,000
2011 4,594,154,000
2012 4,489,590,000
2013 4,118,209,000
2014 3,892,485,000
2015 3,488,868,000
2016 3,139,312,000
2017 3,591,508,000
2018 3,622,919,000
2019 3,435,736,000
2020 3,150,829,000

Military expenditure (current LCU)

The value for Military expenditure (current LCU) in South Africa was 50,008,800,000 as of 2019. As the graph below shows, over the past 59 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 50,008,800,000 in 2019 and a minimum value of 50,000,000 in 1960.

Definition: Military expenditures data from SIPRI are derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces; defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects; paramilitary forces, if these are judged to be trained and equipped for military operations; and military space activities. Such expenditures include military and civil personnel, including retirement pensions of military personnel and social services for personnel; operation and maintenance; procurement; military research and development; and military aid (in the military expenditures of the donor country). Excluded are civil defense and current expenditures for previous military activities, such as for veterans' benefits, demobilization, conversion, and destruction of weapons. This definition cannot be applied for all countries, however, since that would require much more detailed information than is available about what is included in military budgets and off-budget military expenditure items. (For example, military budgets might or might not cover civil defense, reserves and auxiliary forces, police and paramilitary forces, dual-purpose forces such as military and civilian police, military grants in kind, pensions for military personnel, and social security contributions paid by one part of government to another.)

Source: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Yearbook: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security.

Year Value
1960 50,000,000
1961 81,250,000
1962 133,000,000
1963 135,000,000
1964 194,000,000
1965 206,750,000
1966 231,750,000
1967 266,500,000
1968 285,500,000
1969 304,000,000
1970 298,500,000
1971 347,500,000
1972 378,500,000
1973 522,500,000
1974 749,000,000
1975 1,058,750,000
1976 1,458,500,000
1977 1,803,250,000
1978 1,798,250,000
1979 1,819,500,000
1980 2,073,000,000
1981 2,643,250,000
1982 2,980,250,000
1983 3,401,000,000
1984 4,086,750,000
1985 4,719,000,000
1986 5,707,750,000
1987 7,321,500,000
1988 9,692,000,000
1989 10,967,750,000
1990 11,292,250,000
1991 10,698,500,000
1992 10,488,000,000
1993 10,634,250,000
1994 12,351,750,000
1995 11,942,000,000
1996 11,143,000,000
1997 11,124,250,000
1998 10,535,000,000
1999 10,618,500,000
2000 13,128,250,000
2001 15,516,000,000
2002 18,615,750,000
2003 19,473,000,000
2004 20,019,000,000
2005 22,683,500,000
2006 23,742,000,000
2007 24,839,750,000
2008 27,145,750,000
2009 30,443,250,000
2010 30,662,500,000
2011 33,358,750,000
2012 36,859,400,000
2013 39,761,550,000
2014 42,243,800,000
2015 44,514,230,000
2016 46,665,700,000
2017 48,532,180,000
2018 48,616,450,000
2019 50,008,800,000

Military expenditure (% of GDP)

Military expenditure (% of GDP) in South Africa was 1.07 as of 2020. Its highest value over the past 60 years was 5.26 in 1977, while its lowest value was 0.95 in 1960.

Definition: Military expenditures data from SIPRI are derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces; defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects; paramilitary forces, if these are judged to be trained and equipped for military operations; and military space activities. Such expenditures include military and civil personnel, including retirement pensions of military personnel and social services for personnel; operation and maintenance; procurement; military research and development; and military aid (in the military expenditures of the donor country). Excluded are civil defense and current expenditures for previous military activities, such as for veterans' benefits, demobilization, conversion, and destruction of weapons. This definition cannot be applied for all countries, however, since that would require much more detailed information than is available about what is included in military budgets and off-budget military expenditure items. (For example, military budgets might or might not cover civil defense, reserves and auxiliary forces, police and paramilitary forces, dual-purpose forces such as military and civilian police, military grants in kind, pensions for military personnel, and social security contributions paid by one part of government to another.)

Source: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Yearbook: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security.

See also:

Year Value
1960 0.95
1961 1.47
1962 2.25
1963 2.06
1964 2.70
1965 2.63
1966 2.70
1967 2.79
1968 2.76
1969 2.61
1970 2.33
1971 2.46
1972 2.37
1973 2.65
1974 3.09
1975 3.87
1976 4.73
1977 5.26
1978 4.56
1979 3.86
1980 3.30
1981 3.64
1982 3.61
1983 3.60
1984 3.70
1985 3.70
1986 3.82
1987 4.19
1988 4.62
1989 4.36
1990 3.90
1991 3.22
1992 2.82
1993 2.50
1994 2.56
1995 2.12
1996 1.76
1997 1.58
1998 1.38
1999 1.27
2000 1.39
2001 1.48
2002 1.53
2003 1.47
2004 1.36
2005 1.38
2006 1.29
2007 1.18
2008 1.15
2009 1.21
2010 1.12
2011 1.10
2012 1.13
2013 1.12
2014 1.11
2015 1.10
2016 1.07
2017 1.03
2018 0.98
2019 0.98
2020 1.07

Military expenditure (% of general government expenditure)

Military expenditure (% of general government expenditure) in South Africa was 2.61 as of 2020. Its highest value over the past 20 years was 6.16 in 2002, while its lowest value was 2.61 in 2020.

Definition: Military expenditures data from SIPRI are derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces; defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects; paramilitary forces, if these are judged to be trained and equipped for military operations; and military space activities. Such expenditures include military and civil personnel, including retirement pensions of military personnel and social services for personnel; operation and maintenance; procurement; military research and development; and military aid (in the military expenditures of the donor country). Excluded are civil defense and current expenditures for previous military activities, such as for veterans' benefits, demobilization, conversion, and destruction of weapons. This definition cannot be applied for all countries, however, since that would require much more detailed information than is available about what is included in military budgets and off-budget military expenditure items. (For example, military budgets might or might not cover civil defense, reserves and auxiliary forces, police and paramilitary forces, dual-purpose forces such as military and civilian police, military grants in kind, pensions for military personnel, and social security contributions paid by one part of government to another.)

Source: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Yearbook: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security.

See also:

Year Value
2000 5.50
2001 5.88
2002 6.16
2003 5.78
2004 5.34
2005 4.91
2006 4.68
2007 4.33
2008 4.00
2009 3.83
2010 3.55
2011 3.57
2012 3.61
2013 3.56
2014 3.49
2015 3.34
2016 3.25
2017 3.16
2018 2.97
2019 2.77
2020 2.61

Classification

Topic: Public Sector Indicators

Sub-Topic: Defense & arms trade