Each composite energetic material (CEM) has specific electrical resistivity (ER) and electrostatic discharge (ESD) sensitivity. These parameters depend on the concentration of composite ingredients. The effect of different mole ratios of ingredients on the ER and ESD sensitivity of Mg/Ba(NO3)2/novolac resin composite was modeled by response surface methodology (RSM) and central composite design (CCD). Nonlinear regression analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that the predicted responses were in good agreement with the experimental results. The results showed an inversely proportional correlation between increasing the mole ratio of Mg with ER and the minimum ignition energy (MIE) of ESD ignition. Similarly, there is a directly proportional correlation between increasing the mole ratio of Ba(NO3)2 and the novolac resin with increasing ER and MIE. A composite with low ER will conduct electrical energy and accumulate joule heating to begin ESD ignition. Therefore, increasing the conductive Mg ratio in the composite decreases joule heating. Thus, the MIE decreases with an increase in the Mg concentration. Similarly, increasing the concentration of electrical insulated novolac resin or Ba(NO3)2 in the composite increases the joule heating and the MIE. Therefore, a correlation was made to predict the ESD sensitivity of composites with different mole ratios of ingredients according to the values obtained from their ER measurements. Display omitted •There is a correlation between electrical resistivity and ingredients ratio of a CEM.•There is a correlation between the ESD sensitivity and ingredients ratio of a CEM.•The ESD sensitivity of a CEM can be predicted by measuring its electrical resistivity.