Sudan holds a 72–28 advantage over South Sudan on the Relative Advantage Index, a decisive margin.
The margin is driven by military spending (67% of the combined total, $369m) and economic size (GDP) (81% of the combined total, $49.7bn).
1 factor — nuclear warheads — could not be scored because the figure is unpublished for at least one side.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 | South Sudan | Share | Sudan | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Military spending SIPRI Milex | $178m | 33%67% | $369m | 33% |
Economic size (GDP) World Bank WDI | $12.0bn | 19%81% | $49.7bn | 27% |
Active personnel COW NMC | 53.0k | 34%66% | 104.0k | 20% |
Logistics & power projection OurAirports | 4 | 25%75% | 12 | 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 2026-08-04.
Every combination inside the top 30 of the Composite Power Index.
Bordering states — the comparisons people actually search for.