HEAD TO HEAD
Zambia vs Zimbabwe
Verdict
Zambia and Zimbabwe are close to evenly matched, 51–49 on the Relative Advantage Index.
Zambia leads on military spending (72% of the combined total, $406m) and logistics & power projection (53% of the combined total, 10), which Zimbabwe offsets elsewhere.
1 factor — nuclear warheads — could not be scored because the figure is unpublished for at least one side. Those factors are excluded and the remaining weights renormalised, never substituted.
Factor by factor
| Factor | Zambia | Share | Zimbabwe | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Military spending SIPRI Milex | $406m | 72%28% | $160m | 33% |
Economic size (GDP) World Bank WDI | $25.3bn | 38%62% | $41.5bn | 27% |
Active personnel COW NMC | 15.0k | 34%66% | 29.0k | 20% |
Logistics & power projection OurAirports | 10 | 53%47% | 9 | 20% |
Shares are each side's portion of the combined total for that factor. Weights are renormalised across the factors both sides publish — see the methodology. Data read 2026-10-22.
