Indicator	Value
Military expenditure (% GDP)	2.16 %SIPRI via World Bank WDI [2024]
Military expenditure	260,000,000 US$SIPRI via World Bank WDI [2024]
Armed forces personnel	21,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI [2020]
Arms imports	126,000,000 US$SIPRI via World Bank WDI [2024]
Arms exports	No authoritative open source found
Military & security forces	Mauritanian Armed Forces (aka Armée Nationale Mauritanienne): National Army, National Navy, Air Force; Gendarmerie Ministry of Interior and Decentralization: National Police, National Guard (2025); note: note 1: the National Police are responsible for enforcing the law and maintaining order in urban areas, while the paramilitary Gendarmerie is responsible for maintaining civil order around metropolitan areas and providing law enforcement services in rural areas; like the Mauritanian Armed Forces, the Gendarmerie is under the Ministry of Defense, but also supports the ministries of Interior and Justicenote 2: the National Guard performs a limited police function in keeping with its peacetime role of providing security at government facilities, to include prisons; regional authorities may call upon the National Guard to restore civil order during riots and other large-scale disturbances; the National Guard includes the nomadic Camel Corps or Nomad Group, also known as the MéharisteCIA World Factbook [2025] · 2026 archive
Military service age & obligation	18 is the legal minimum age for voluntary military service; has a compulsory two-year military service law, but the law has reportedly never been applied (2025)CIA World Factbook [2025] · 2026 archive
Arms imports (USD)	126,000,000 US$SIPRI via World Bank WDI [2024]
Arms exports (USD)	No authoritative open source found
Military spending (% of GDP)	2.16 %SIPRI via World Bank WDI [2024]
Military spending (USD)	260,000,000 US$SIPRI via World Bank WDI [2024]