List of countries with highest military expenditures

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Global military expenditure in 2022 SM share of world military expenditure of the 15 countries with the highest spending in 2022.png
Global military expenditure in 2022

This is a list of countries with the highest military expenditure in a given year. Military expenditure figures are presented in United States dollars based on either constant or current exchange rates. [1]

Contents

Highest military expenditure, total

The first list is based on the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) fact sheet, which includes a list of the world's top 40 military spenders as of 2023, based on current market exchange rates. [1]

The second list is based on the 2024 edition of The Military Balance, published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) using average market exchange rates. [2]

Some sources say that Russian and Chinese military spending are actually far higher than the chart due to captive markets and Purchasing Price Parity in those countries. [3] [4]

40 Countries with the highest military spending worldwide in 2023 [1]
SIPRI Military Expenditure Database [5]
List by the International Institute for Strategic Studies

2024 edition of "The Military Balance" from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) [2]

RankCountrySpending
(US$ bn)
 % of GDP  % of global spending
World total 2,4432.3100
1 Flag of the United States.svg United States 916.03.437
2 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China [lower-alpha 1] 296.01.712
3 Flag of Russia.svg Russia 109.05.94.5
4 Flag of India.svg India 83.62.43.4
5 Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Saudi Arabia [lower-alpha 1] [lower-alpha 2] 75.87.13.1
6 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom 74.92.33.1
7 Flag of Germany.svg Germany 66.81.52.7
8 Flag of Ukraine.svg Ukraine 64.837.02.7
9 Flag of France.svg France [lower-alpha 3] 61.32.12.5
10 Flag of Japan.svg Japan 50.21.22.1
11 Flag of South Korea.svg South Korea 47.92.82.0
12 Flag of Italy.svg Italy 35.51.61.5
13 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia 32.31.91.3
14 Flag of Poland.svg Poland [lower-alpha 3] 31.63.81.3
15 Flag of Israel.svg Israel 27.55.31.1
16 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada 27.21.31.1
17 Flag of Spain.svg Spain 23.71.51.0
18 Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil 22.91.10.9
19 Flag of Algeria.svg Algeria 18.38.20.7
20 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands 16.61.50.7
21 Flag of the Republic of China.svg Taiwan 16.62.20.7
22 Flag of Turkey.svg Turkey 15.81.50.6
23 Flag of Singapore.svg Singapore 13.22.70.5
24 Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico 11.80.70.5
25 Flag of Colombia.svg Colombia 10.72.90.4
26 Flag of Iran.svg Iran 10.32.10.4
27 Flag of Indonesia.svg Indonesia 9.50.70.4
28 Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden 8.81.50.4
29 Flag of Norway.svg Norway 8.71.60.4
30 Flag of Pakistan.svg Pakistan 8.52.80.3
31 Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark 8.12.00.3
32 Flag of Kuwait.svg Kuwait 7.84.90.3
33 Flag of Greece.svg Greece 7.73.20.3
34 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium 7.61.20.3
35 Flag of Finland.svg Finland 7.32.40.3
36 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Switzerland 6.30.70.3
37 Flag of Oman.svg Oman 5.95.40.2
38 Flag of Thailand.svg Thailand 5.81.20.2
39 Flag of Romania.svg Romania 5.61.60.2
40 Flag of Chile.svg Chile 5.51.60.2
RankCountrySpending
(US$ bn)
1 Flag of the United States.svg United States 905.5
2 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China (PPP) ε407.9
3 Flag of Russia.svg Russia (PPP) ε294.6
4 Flag of India.svg India 73.6
5 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom ε73.5
6 Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Saudi Arabia 69.1
7 Flag of Germany.svg Germany 63.7
8 Flag of France.svg France 60.0
9 Flag of Japan.svg Japan 49.0
10 Flag of South Korea.svg South Korea 43.8
11 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia 34.4
12 Flag of Italy.svg Italy 32.7
13 Flag of Ukraine.svg Ukraine 31.1
14 Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil 24.2
15 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada 24.2
16 Flag of Poland.svg Poland 23.5
17 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg United Arab Emirates 20.7
18 Flag of Israel.svg Israel 19.2
19 Flag of Spain.svg Spain 19
20 Flag of the Republic of China.svg Taiwan 18.9

Highest military expenditure, share of GDP

This first list is a list of countries by military expenditure share of GDP—more specifically, a list of the top 15 countries by percentage share in recent years—the amount spent by a nation on its military as a share of its GDP.

The second list presents this as a share of the general government expenditure. The first list is sourced from the SIPRI for the year 2019 and from Military Balance 2017 published by International Institute for Strategic Studies for the year 2016. The second list is sourced only from the SIPRI for the year 2019.

As a share of GDP

List by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
SIPRI Military Expenditure Database
[6] (2022)
List by the International Institute for Strategic Studies
Top 15 Defence Budgets 2020
[7]
RankCountry% of GDP
1Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 33.55%
2Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia 7.42%
3Flag of Qatar.svg  Qatar 6.96%
4Flag of Togo.svg  Togo 5.44%
5Flag of Oman.svg  Oman 5.17%
6Flag of Jordan.svg  Jordan 4.84%
7Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria 4.78%
8Flag of Azerbaijan.svg  Azerbaijan 4.55%
9Flag of Kuwait.svg  Kuwait 4.53%
10Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 4.51%
11Flag of Armenia.svg  Armenia 4.32%
12Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 4.06%*
13Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 3.90%
14Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 3.69%
15Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3.45%
RankCountry % of GDP
1Flag of Oman.svg  Oman 12.0
2Flag of the Taliban.svg  Afghanistan 10.6
3Flag of Lebanon.svg  Lebanon 10.5
4Flag of Kuwait.svg  Kuwait 7.1
5Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia 7.1
6Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria 6.7
7Flag of Iraq.svg  Iraq 5.8
8Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  UAE 5.6
9Flag of Azerbaijan.svg  Azerbaijan 5.4
10Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 5.3
11Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 5.2
12Flag of Jordan.svg  Jordan 4.9
13Flag of Armenia.svg  Armenia 4.8
14Flag of Mali.svg  Mali 4.5
15Flag of Qatar.svg  Qatar 4.4
* Bold values with an asterisk above are highly uncertain SIPRI estimates.

Italic values are SIPRI estimates.

Notes

  1. 1 2 SIPRI estimate
  2. The figures for Saudi Arabia include expenditure for public order and safety and might be slightly overestimated.[ citation needed ]
  3. 1 2 The figures for France and Poland exclude expenditure for Gendarmerie nationale and Żandarmeria Wojskowa.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Trends in Military Expenditure 2023" (PDF). Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. April 2024. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  2. 1 2 "International Comparisons of Defence Expenditure and Military Personnel". The Military Balance. 124 (1): 542–547. 31 December 2024. doi:10.1080/04597222.2024.2298600. ISSN   0459-7222.
  3. "Why Russian Military Expenditure Is Much Higher Than Commonly Understood (As Is China's)". War on the Rocks. 16 December 2019. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  4. "Russian defense spending is much larger, and more sustainable than it seems". Defensenews. 3 May 2019. Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  5. "Data for all countries from 1988–2020 in constant (2019) USD (pdf)" (PDF). SIPRI. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 April 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  6. "SIPRI Military Expenditure Database". Sipri.org. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  7. "IISS Military Balance 2021". The Military Balance. 121 (1). International Institute for Strategic Studies: 23–29. January 2021. doi:10.1080/04597222.2021.1868791. S2CID   232050862. Archived from the original on 7 October 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2021.