Turkey, Egypt and Iran top MENA military firepower rankings

A MENA country is yet to break into the global top 10, according to the military strength rankings.

2 min read

14 January, 2023

All three countries rank above Israel according to the index [Getty images]

Turkey, Egypt and Iran have the three strongest militaries across the Middle East and North Africa region, according to Global Fire Power’s 2023 Military Strength Rankings announced this week.

Turkey has climbed two places in the global rankings, witnessing an increase in citizens available for military service, and a total military personnel of 755,000.

Under the rule of authoritarian president Abd el-Fattah al-Sisi Egypt has kept military spending going - with sympathetic figures occupying key roles across the economy to ensure army funding is maintained.

Iran is still ranked well above regional rivals Saudi Arabia.

The three countries all rank above Israel.

According to the index, Israel stayed in 18th place globally, having flatlined in military spending and eligible servicemen and women - despite still maintaining strict military service.

Global Fire Power uses over 60 factors to calculate the ‘power index’ of any given country - taking in conventional metrics of military capacity, as well as the technological advancements of smaller nations.

In North Africa, Algeria remains in the ascendancy over its regional competitors, standing 26th in the world.

Years of war have depleted the military resources, economies and available military spending of former regional powerhouses, including Libya and Syria.

Weakest of all countries in the MENA region is Lebanon - sandwiched between Mali and Mozambique in 111th place - with a depleted economy that has precious little to spend on new military hardware and training.

The full Middle East rankings published in the index is as follows: