Rabat – The Global Firepower Index (GFP) has ranked Morocco’s military power 60th globally according to their GFP value of 0.8244. A value of 0.0000 is a perfect value. According to their aircraft strength, Morocco is ranked 35th out of the 137 nations represented.
The Index ranks Morocco’s war-making capability 60th globally, compared to 55th in 2018.
GFP uses data analysis to rank the top 137 modern military powers. The ranking compares the potential war-making capability of nations based on over 50 factors, such as a nation’s resources, manpower, finances, geography, and air, land, and naval strength.
The United States ranked first, followed by Russia (second), China (third), India (fourth), France (fifth), and Japan (sixth). Among Morocco’s neighbors, Egypt was ranked 12th, Spain 21st, and Algeria 27th.
The analysis reported Morocco possesses 1,109 combat tanks, 2,270 armored fighting vehicles (AFV) and 800 artilleries of three different types: 530 self-propelled artilleries, 198 towed artilleries, and 72 rocket projectors. Spain has only 327 combat tanks, 2,040 AFVs, and 240 artilleries. In turn, Algeria possesses 2,475 combat tanks, 6,900 AFVs, and 1,350 artilleries.
In Africa, Morocco is ranked seventh for its war making capabilities, while Egypt is ranked first and Algeria second.
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Algeria’s higher ranking than Morocco is in part due to its higher defense budget, lower external debt, higher foreign reserve, and proven oil reserves. While Morocco’s defense budget is $3.4 billion, Algeria’s budget is $10.6 billion. Additionally, Morocco’s external debt is $51.5 billion, while Algeria’s debt is only $6.3 billion.
However, Morocco does possess greater navel assets than Algeria as well as a greater number of military personnel. Morocco has 346,000 military personnel, while Algeria has 280,000.
In 2017, Morocco was ranked 57th and in 2018, Morocco was ranked 55th. However, this year, Morocco’s military strength ranking dropped to 60th, demonstrating a fall in military strength compared to other nations.
In January, Morocco’s House of Councillors in Parliament passed Law 44.18 on mandatory military service. Moroccan men and women between the ages of 19 and 25 will now be subject to a 12-month military service, beginning in September.
