Zambia Military - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

Zambia Defense Force (ZDF): Zambia Army, Zambia Air Force, Zambia National Service; Defense Force Medical Service; Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security: Zambia Police (includes a paramilitary battalion) (2022)

note: the Zambia National Service is a support organization that also does public work projects

Military expenditures

1.3% of GDP (2021 est.)

1.3% of GDP (2020 est.)

1.3% of GDP (2019 est.) (approximately $450 million)

1.4% of GDP (2018 est.) (approximately $470 million)

1.3% of GDP (2017 est.) (approximately $420 million)

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 17,000 active troops (15,000 Army; 2,000 Air) (2022)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the ZDF's inventory is largely comprised of Chinese, Russian, and Soviet-era armaments; since 2010, China has been the leading supplier of arms to Zambia (2022)

Military service age and obligation

18-25 years of age (16 with parental consent) for voluntary military service for men and women; no conscription; 12-year enlistment period (7 years active, 5 in the Reserves); all citizens are required to register at 16  (2022)

Military deployments

930 Central African Republic (MINUSCA) (May 2022)

Military - note

the Zambian Defense Force (ZDF) traces its roots to the Northern Rhodesia Regiment, which was raised by the British colonial government to fight in World War II; the ZDF was established in 1964 from units of the dissolved Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland armed forces; it participated in a number of regional conflicts during the 1970s and 1980s; Zambia actively supported independence movements such as the Union for the Total Liberation of Angola (UNITA), the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), the African National Congress of South Africa (ANC), and the South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) (2022)

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