| Military branches | Zimbabwe Defense Forces (ZDF): Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA), Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ) (2021) |
| Military service age and obligation | 18-22 years of age for voluntary military service (18-24 for officer cadets; 18-30 for technical/specialist personnel); no conscription; women are eligible to serve (2021) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 0.7% of GDP (2019) 1.2% of GDP (2018) 1.5% of GDP (2017) 1.8% of GDP (2016) 1.9% of GDP (2015) |
| Military and security service personnel strengths | information varies; approximately 30,000 active duty troops, including about 4,000 serving in the Air Force (2021) |
| Military equipment inventories and acquisitions | the ZDF inventory is comprised mostly of older Chinese- and Russian-origin equipment; since 2000, China is the leading arms supplier to the ZDF, although there are no recorded deliveries of weapons since 2006; since the early 2000s, Zimbabwe has been under an arms embargo from the European Union, as well as targeted sanctions from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the US (2020) |
| Military - note | the ZDF was formed after independence from the former Rhodesian Army and the two guerrilla forces that opposed it during the Rhodesian Civil War (aka "Bush War") of the 1970s, the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) and the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA); internal security is a key current responsibility, and the military continues to play an active role in the country’s politics since the coup of 2017 |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021
