Albania Military - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

Republic of Albania Armed Forces (Forcat e Armatosura të Republikës së Shqipërisë (FARSH)): Land Forces, Navy Forces (includes Coast Guard), Air Forces

Ministry of Interior: Guard of the Republic, State Police (includes the Border and Migration Police) (2022)

note: the State Police are primarily responsible for internal security, while the Guard of the Republic protects senior state officials, foreign dignitaries, and certain state properties

Military expenditures

1.6% of GDP (2022 est.)

1.4% of GDP (2021)

1.3% of GDP (2020)

1.5% of GDP (2019) (approximately $360 million)

1.3% of GDP (2018) (approximately $330 million)

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 7,000 total active duty personnel (5,000 Army; 1,500 Navy; 500 Air Force) (2022)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the Albanian military was previously equipped with mostly Soviet-era weapons that were sold or destroyed; its inventory now includes a mix of mostly donated and second-hand European and US equipment; since 2010, it has received limited amounts of equipment from France, Germany, and the US (2021)

Military service age and obligation

19 is the legal minimum age for voluntary military service; 18 is the legal minimum age in case of general/partial compulsory mobilization; conscription abolished 2010 (2021)

note: as of 2020, women comprised about 14% of the military's full-time personnel, including 20% of the officers

Military - note

Albania became a member of NATO in 2009; as of 2022, Greece and Italy were providing NATO's air policing mission for Albania

NOTE: The information regarding Albania on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Albania 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Albania 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.