Morocco ranks 59th in the world in terms of military power
Morocco ranks 59th in the world in terms of military power, according to the latest GlobalFirepower report.
The Moroccan kingdom has earmarked 135 billion dirhams (13 billion dollars) for its 2025 defence budget. This shows the Moroccan kingdom's strong commitment to strengthening its military potential.
The latest GlobalFirepower report ranks Morocco as the 59th most powerful army in the world in 2025, out of 145 countries evaluated. Since 2006, GlobalFirepower has provided an analytical overview of data on these 145 tested military powers.
The GlobalFirepower ranking is based on each country's ability to conduct land, sea and air warfare through conventional weapons means.
The results provided incorporate values related to manpower, equipment, natural resources, finance and geography represented by more than 60 factors used to formulate the final rankings, providing a comprehensive view of the war scenario on the world stage.
This index comes into sharper relief in situations of major war tensions such as the current ones, with recent war scenarios in enclaves such as Ukraine or the Middle East.
With a power index of 1.1273, bearing in mind that a lower score reflects greater strength, Morocco continues to increase its military capability compared to other global arms powers. In this respect, there has been a clear improvement from the 61st place it occupied in 2024. This year's GlobalFirepower report highlights the North African country's constant progress in improving its military strength.
The top of the ranking is currently occupied, as expected, by the United States, with a score of 0.0744, followed by Russia, with 0.0788, and China, with the same score as the Russian nation. India, South Korea, the UK, France, Japan, Turkey and Italy complete the top 10.
Algeria, Morocco's great political rival in the Maghreb, is ranked 26th in the world, a fact to bear in mind because there is always a comparison between the two neighbouring Maghreb nations, which are going through a period of very tense diplomatic relations due to political clashes, such as the one related to the position on the sovereignty of Western Sahara, which is claimed by the Moroccan kingdom, while the Algerian state supports the holding of a referendum on independence for the Sahrawi population. Tensions in the territory have also led to small-scale armed clashes that also test existing military capabilities.
Morocco ranks seventh in terms of military potential by 2025 on the African continent, after Egypt (19th), Algeria (26th), South Africa (40th), Nigeria (36th), Ethiopia (52nd) and Angola (56th).
Morocco's military characteristics
The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces (FAR) has 195,800 active-duty troops, along with 150,000 reservists and 50,000 paramilitary forces.
Nearly 18 million people are available for military service, which constitutes a significant pool for recruitment and mobilisation, the report notes.
The Moroccan Air Force has 13,500 troops, the Army has 175,000 and the Royal Navy has 7,800.
Morocco's ground forces have an arsenal to be reckoned with: 903 tanks, 7,877 armoured vehicles, 396 self-propelled artillery systems, 153 towed artillery units and 129 mobile rocket launchers.
The Royal Moroccan Air Force has 260 aircraft, including 83 combat aircraft, two refuelling aircraft, 31 air transport aircraft and 78 helicopters.
Meanwhile, the Royal Navy operates a fleet that includes six frigates, one corvette and 105 patrol boats, although it lacks certain elements such as submarines, destroyers and helicopter carriers.
Increased Defence Investment
Morocco has earmarked 135 billion dirhams ($13 billion) for its 2025 defence budget, a sign of the importance the North African country attaches to its army and the country's defence.
This increase in funding makes it possible to acquire new military equipment that will enable Morocco's national defence industry to continue to grow in the face of threats in the region and on a global scale. All of this through cooperation with world powers such as the United States, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and France, which are among the major global military powers.
As an example of this dynamic of growth and international cooperation in military equipment, Morocco will receive 30 Mirage 2000-9 fighters from the United Arab Emirates. France, which produces these aircraft, had vetoed their transfer, but recently accepted the transfer to Morocco thanks to improved Franco-Moroccan diplomatic relations, which benefited from the French decision to support Morocco's Autonomy Plan for Western Sahara. The Royal Moroccan Air Force is due to receive its first Mirage 2000-9 fighter in 2027, precisely when the Emirates will obtain the 80 Rafale aircraft purchased from France as well.
In addition, Morocco, according to local media, will receive in the coming months the 32 F-35 fighters it has ordered from the US company Lockheed Martin. With the acquisition of these F-35s, Morocco will become the first African country to have a fleet of this type of latest-generation American fighter.
This is in addition to cooperation in terms of military equipment with another important Middle Eastern country, Israel. With which there have been technological exchanges in important equipment, such as drones, thanks to the normalisation of diplomatic relations that took place in the Abraham Accords, whereby several Arab countries established diplomatic ties with the Israeli state under the auspices of the United States, with the aim of pacifying the region and promoting territorial development in the face of common enemies such as the Islamic Republic of Iran, criticised for its belligerence and interventionism in the internal affairs of several neighbouring countries.