Eswatini Military - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

Umbutfo Eswatini Defense Force (UEDF): Army (includes a small air wing) (2022)

Military expenditures

1.7% of GDP (2021 est.)

1.8% of GDP (2020 est.)

1.9% of GDP (2019 est.) (approximately $140 million)

2.1% of GDP (2018 est.) (approximately $150 million)

2.1% of GDP (2017 est.) (approximately $140 million)

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 3,000 active duty personnel (2022)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the UEDF is lightly armed with mostly South African material; it has received small amounts of secondhand equipment since 2010 (2021)

Military service age and obligation

18-30 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; no conscription (2021)

Military - note

the UEDF was originally created in 1973 as the Royal Swaziland Defense Force; the UEDF’s primary mission is external security but it also has domestic security responsibilities, including protecting members of the royal family; the king is the UEDF commander in chief and holds the position of minister of defense, although the UEDF reports to the Army commander and principal undersecretary of defense for day-to-day operations; the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) is responsible for maintaining internal security as well as migration and border crossing enforcement; it is under the prime minister, although the king is the force’s titular commissioner in chief (2022)

NOTE: The information regarding Eswatini 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 Eswatini 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Eswatini 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.