Equatorial Guinea: Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values)

Key figures

Since 1978 it is up 140% from 5 million in 1978 (1.92% a year on average, compounded). The World Bank has no value for 28 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 90 million in 2014 and the biggest yearly fall was 65 million in 2010. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2024, Equatorial Guinea had the 10th highest value of the 23 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Equatorial Guinea in the 2024 ranking

• Latvia — 7th of 23: 19 million
• Slovenia — 8th of 23: 19 million
• Georgia — 9th of 23: 15 million
• Suriname — 11th of 23: 12 million
• Botswana — 12th of 23: 11 million
• Jamaica — 13th of 23: 10 million

What this measures

Arms transfers (imports) cover the volume of transfers of major arms through sales and gifts, and those made through manufacturing licenses. Data cover major conventional weapons such as aircraft, armored vehicles, artillery, radar systems, missiles, and ships. Figures are SIPRI Trend Indicator Values (TIVs). A '0' indicates that the volume of deliveries is between 0 and 0.5 million SIPRI TIV.

Limitations: SIPRI calculates the volume of transfers to, from and between all parties using the TIV and the number of weapon systems or subsystems delivered in a given year. This data is intended to provide a common unit to allow the measurement if trends in the flow of arms to particular countries and regions over time. Therefore, the main priority is to ensure that the TIV system remains consistent over time, and that any changes introduced are backdated. SIPRI TIV figures do not represent sales prices for arms transfers.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a sum.

All 19 values

Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) in nearby economies

• Angola — 84 million (2025)
• Benin — 4 million (2025)
• Botswana — 11 million (2024)
• Burkina Faso — 34 million (2025)
• Burundi — 2 million (2019)
• Cameroon — 2 million (2023)
• Central African Republic — 43 million (2023)
• Chad — 4 million (2025)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 44 million (2025)
• Congo, Rep. — 9 million (2024)

More public sector data for Equatorial Guinea

• Armed forces personnel, total — 1,000 (2020)
• Armed forces personnel (% of total labor force) — 0.16% (2020)
• Statistical performance indicators (SPI): Pillar 1 data use score (scale 0-100) — 10 (2024)
• Statistical performance indicators (SPI): Pillar 3 data products score (scale 0-100) — 60.41 (2024)
• Net investment in nonfinancial assets (current LCU) — 336.02 billion (2022)
• Net investment in nonfinancial assets (% of GDP) — 3.94% (2022)
• Net lending (+) / net borrowing (-) (current LCU) — 979.19 billion (2022)
• Net lending (+) / net borrowing (-) (% of GDP) — 11.47% (2022)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Equatorial Guinea's arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values)?

12 million in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1978?

It is up 140% from 5 million in 1978 (1.92% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 92 million in 2014 and the lowest 0 in 2021.

How does Equatorial Guinea rank?

10th highest of 23 economies with data for 2024.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Arms Transfers Programme, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), uri: https://armstransfers.sipri.org/ArmsTransfer/.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator MS.MIL.MPRT.KD, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Arms Transfers Programme, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), uri: https://armstransfers.sipri.org/ArmsTransfer/ Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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