A new SIPRI report monitoring developments in global military expenditure has revealed African countries' military spending in 2022.
According to the think tank, military spending on the African continent fell from $40 billion to $38 billion from 2021 to 2022, with the continent's share in the global total sitting at 1.7%.
Leading African countries in terms of military spending are North Africa's Algeria, Morocco and Egypt, which spent $9.1 billion, $4.9 billion and $4.6 billion, respectively.
The sharpest increase in Africa's military spending was recorded in Ethiopia (+53% with a value of $1.3 billion in 2022), with the resumption of the government's fight against the Tigray People's Liberation Front in the north of the country, the report pointed out.
At the same time, Ethiopia's military expenditure sits behind that of Angola, Tunisia and Kenya, which occupy 6th-8th places in this ranking ($1.6 billion, $1.15 billion and $1.13 billion, respectively).
Rounding out the top 10 is Uganda with military spending of $923 million in 2022, down 14 % from last year.
The lowest figures are recorded in Cape Verde, Gambia and Liberia, whose expenditures do not exceed $20 million.
The report, however, lacks military spending data for Libya, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Sudan for 2022.
In the same report, the SIPRI noted that global military spending increased 3.7% last year to a new record high of $2.24 trillion with the three largest spenders being the United States, China and Russia.