Morocco Military 2022, CIA World Factbook

Royal Armed Forces: Royal Moroccan Army (includes the Moroccan Royal Guard), Royal Moroccan Navy (includes Coast Guard, marines), Royal Moroccan Air Force; Ministry of Defense (aka Administration of National Defense): Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie; Ministry of Interior: National Police, Auxiliary Forces (2022)

note 1: the National Police manages internal law enforcement in cities; the Royal Gendarmerie is responsible for law enforcement in rural regions and on national highways

note 2: the Auxiliary Forces provide support to the Gendarmerie and National Police; it includes a Mobile Intervention Corps, a motorized paramilitary security force that supplements the military and the police as needed

note 3: the Moroccan Royal Guard was established in the 11th century and is considered one of the world's oldest active units still in military service

Military expenditures

4.5% of GDP (2021 est.)

4.5% of GDP (2020 est.)

3.4% of GDP (2019 est.) (approximately $7.46 billion)

3.3% of GDP (2018 est.) (approximately $7.12 billion)

3.4% of GDP (2017 est.) (approximately $7.08 billion)

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 200,000 active personnel (175,000 Army; 10,000 Navy; 15,000 Air Force); estimated 20,000 Gendarmerie; estimated 5,000 Mobile Intervention Corps (2022)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the Moroccan military's inventory is comprised of mostly older French and US equipment; since 2010, it has received equipment from about a dozen countries with France and the US as the leading suppliers (2021)

Military service age and obligation

19-25 years of age for 12-month compulsory and voluntary military service for men and women (conscription abolished 2006 and reintroduced in 2019) (2022)

Military deployments

775 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 925 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) (May 2022)

Military - note

Moroccan military forces were engaged in combat operations against the Polisario Front (aka Frente Popular para la Liberación de Saguia el-Hamra y de Río de Oro or Frente Polisario) from 1975 until a UN-brokered cease-fire in 1991; a 2,500-kilometer long sand berm, built in 1987, separates the forces of Morocco and the Polisario Front

the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) was established by Security Council resolution 690 in April 1991 in accordance with settlement proposals accepted in August 1988 by Morocco and the Polisario Front; MINURSO was unable to carry out all the original settlement proposals, but as of 2022 continued to monitor the cease-fire and reduce the threat of mines and unexploded ordnance, and has provided logistic support to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)-led confidence building measures with personnel and air and ground assets

Morocco has Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) status with the US; MNNA is a designation under US law that provides foreign partners with certain benefits in the areas of defense trade and security cooperation; while MNNA status provides military and economic privileges, it does not entail any security commitments (2022)

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