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Rabat – Morocco’s ranking on the 2020 Global Firepower index, measuring military strength has improved from last year.
The report ranked Morocco 56 out of 138 countries, climbing five places. In 2019 the North African country appeared in 61st position out of 137 countries, and was 55th in 2018.
This year, Morocco earned a score of 0.8244. A perfect score is 0.0000.
Data from the same website shows that Morocco’s military budget amounted to $ 10 billion in 2019. The country, however, is still confronting the huge external debt which reached $51.5 billion.
The Global Firepower index ranking compares the potential war capability of nations based on more than 50 factors, including resources; manpower; finances; geography; and the country’s naval, land, and air forces.
The report noted that Morocco has around 510,000 military personnel.
In terms of airpower, Morocco has 46 fighters, and 4 special mission aircraft, 67 trainers, and 64 helicopters.
Morocco’s army boasts around 1,443 tanks, 2, 901 armored vehicles, 144 rocket projectors, and 505 self-propelled artillery systems.
Morocco has signed a series of deals with its main army supplier, the US in recent years.
Morocco outranked Saudi Arabia as an arms customer for the US, with deals worth $10.3 billion.
With the new ranking, Morocco has become the second strongest nation in terms of military strength in the Maghreb. Algeria is the 28th globally and tops the list in the Maghreb.
Tunisia, 78th, is third in the region, while Libya and Mauritania ranked fourth and fifth, respectively.
Algeria’s defense budget stood at $13 billion. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s government is facing an external debt of $6 billion, the report finds.
The top Arab countries in terms of military strength are Egypt (10th), Saudi Arabia (17th), Syria (49), Iraq (58th), Jordan (72nd, and UAE (46th).
Qatar is the 100th country on the list.
