Military expenditure at a historic low | Ethiopia

Despite the traditional fascination with a strong army, Ethiopians are uneasy about military spending. No, Ethiopians have no second thoughts about defending their sovereignty as they did for thousands of years. Historians count about 150 battles in the last few hundred years. But, that came at high cost to the socio-economic fabric. Coupled with countless civil wars, it brought the country to the brink of collapse in 1991.

Thus, Ethiopians have been eyeing the nominal increase in Ethiopian National Defense Forces(ENDF) budget every year since 2001, though the budget increase has been marginal when adjusted for inflation and it has been proportional to the increase in the overall budget.

However, the total burden national defense on the economy have been decreased to a historic low in the last decade, according to the World Development Indicators (WDI) database, updated on October 14/2010.

The share of Military related expenditure has decreased to 1.42% of GDP in 2009, though the nominal size(not adjusted for inflation) increased to 4.7 Billion Ethiopian Birr. Note that this figure includes the budget of Ministr of National Defense plus expenses of other organs deemed related to national defense. (Please the definition at the bottom)

Similarly, according to the recent available data, the active military personnel count 0.36% of the total labor force. The size of the Army has also decreased to pre Ethio-Eritrean war times.

You can see the detailed data below. I have put the data on graph, for your convenience. The definitions are at the bottom of the page.

Current LCU – ‘current’ indicates the figure is not adjusted for inflation and ‘LCU’ means Local Currency Unit.

Military expenditure – See below for the definition/criteria used by the World Development Indicators (WDI) computations.

NOTE: the table above shows a 1.481Billion Eth Birr between the years 2000-2009. However, when we deduct the effect of inflation, the real increase from 2000-2009 is just around 480 Million Eth Birr!

GDP – Gross Domestic Product. It reflects the size of a country’s economy.

Military expenditure – See below for the definition/criteria used by the World Development Indicators (WDI) computations.

Armed forces personnel, according to the World Development Indicators (WDI), are active duty military personnel, including paramilitary forces if the training, organization, equipment, and control suggest they may be used to support or replace regular military forces.

Armed forces personnel, according to the World Development Indicators (WDI), comprises active duty military personnel, including paramilitary forces if the training, organization, equipment, and control suggest they may be used to support or replace regular military forces.

Labor force, according to the World Development Indicators (WDI), comprises all people who meet the International Labor Organization’s definition of the economically active population. Note: Data for some countries are based on partial or uncertain data or rough estimates.

Speaking of the Ethiopian military….

ETV, the national broadcaster, presented, on its weekly women program, an interview with two women instructors of Airborne Troops. As it reflects further enhancement of the gender composition of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces, I posted her the video interview with two women Captains. Cap. Mebruk Ahmed is from Jimma city, Oromia, while Damena ketaw is Merahbete(N. Shewa Zone), Amhara state.

[Watch here] or [Download here]

Definitions from World development Indicators database

Military expenditures data, according to the World Development Indicators (WDI), includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces; defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects; paramilitary forces, if these are judged to be trained and equipped for military operations; and military space activities. Such expenditures include military and civil personnel, including retirement pensions of military personnel and social services for personnel; operation and maintenance; procurement; military research and development; and military aid (in the military expenditures of the donor country). Excluded are civil defense and current expenditures for previous military activities, such as for veterans’ benefits, demobilization, conversion, and destruction of weapons. This definition cannot be applied for all countries, however, since that would require much more detailed information than is available about what is included in military budgets and off-budget military expenditure items. (For example, military budgets might or might not cover civil defense, reserves and auxiliary forces, police and paramilitary forces, dual-purpose forces such as military and civilian police, military grants in kind, pensions for military personnel, and social security contributions paid by one part of government to another.) Note: Data for some countries are based on partial or uncertain data or rough estimates.