New Zealand Military - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

New Zealand Defense Force (NZDF): New Zealand Army, Royal New Zealand Navy, Royal New Zealand Air Force (2022)

Military expenditures

1.4% of GDP (2022 est.)

1.3% of GDP (2021)

1.5% of GDP (2020)

1.4% of GDP (2019) (approximately $3.1 billion)

1.2% of GDP (2018) (approximately $2.62 billion)

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 9,500 active-duty troops (4,700 Army; 2,300 Navy; 2,500 Air Force) (2022)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the NZDF is equipped mostly with imported weapons and equipment from Western suppliers; the US has been the leading provider since 2010 (2022)

Military service age and obligation

17 years of age for men and women for voluntary military service; soldiers cannot be deployed until the age of 18; no conscription (2022)

note 1: New Zealand opened up all military occupations to women in 2000; in 2019, women accounted for about 18% of the uniformed full-time personnel

note 2: as of 2022, the NZDF’s program for recruiting foreign volunteers had been suspended

Military deployments

up to 220 Antarctica (summer season only) (2022)

Military - note

New Zealand is a member of the Five Powers Defense Arrangements (FPDA), a series of mutual assistance agreements reached in 1971 embracing Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the UK; the FPDA commits the members to consult with one another in the event or threat of an armed attack on any of the members and to mutually decide what measures should be taken, jointly or separately; there is no specific obligation to intervene militarily

New Zealand has been part of the Australia, New Zealand, and US Security (ANZUS) Treaty since 1951; however, the US suspended its ANZUS security obligations to New Zealand in 1986 after New Zealand implemented a policy barring nuclear-armed and nuclear-powered warships from its ports; the US and New Zealand signed the Wellington Declaration in 2010, which reaffirmed close ties between the two countries, and in 2012 signed the Washington Declaration, which provided a framework for future security cooperation and defense dialogues; in 2016, a US naval ship conducted the first bilateral warship visit to New Zealand since the 1980s 

New Zealand 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 New Zealand 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 New Zealand 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about New Zealand 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.