Global Firepower ranks Kazakhstan as the second big military power in the CSTO

According to the annual Global Firepower ranking, Kazakhstan is ranked 58th out of 145 counties in terms of military power, ahead of all its allies in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) – Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – but one, which is Russia.

What are the positions of the CSTO member states? Russia is ranked second after the USA as it was last year. Kazakhstan is ranked 58th, which is five notches higher than last year; Belarus is 64th, Uzbekistan 65th, Kyrgyzstan – 100th, Armenia – 102nd and Tajikistan – 107th.

How did the ranking look in the past years? In 2023, Kazakhstan was 63rd, 64th in 2022 and 62nd in 2021, behind Uzbekistan and Belarus.

What kind of criteria is the ranking based on? In its ranking, Global Firepower takes into account many factors such as military spending, arsenal and equipment, manpower and number of tanks, ships, aircraft and so on that can affect every army’s ability to fight. The ranking does not include estimates related to nuclear weapons.

How much does Kazakhstan spend on its army?

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), in 2022, Kazakhstan cut its military budget by 150% to $1.1 billion.

In 2019, the military budget of the country was $1.8 billion; $1.5 billion in 2020; $1.6 billion in 2021 and $1.1 billion in 2022.

The SIPRI also reported that the share of military spending in Kazakhstan’s GDP has been declining since 2019. This rate was at 1.02% in 2019; 0.91% in 2020; 0.82% in 2021 and 0.51% in 2022.

On the other hand, Kazakhstan’s official statistics show an increase in military spending. For example, in 2022, the government allocated $1.7 billion for the Ministry of Defense, while in 2021, the agency spent just $797 million, according to the state budget.

Data for 2023 by the SIPRI isn’t available yet.