Military spending

What the country spends on its armed forces in a year (personnel, weapons, operations, military research), as a share of the wealth produced (GDP).

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World map: Military spending, 2025 — Map 2025. Source: SIPRI Military Expenditure Database, via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0).

In 2025, 146 countries have a value. Highest: Ukraine (39.6 %), Algeria (8.8 %), Israel (7.8 %). Lowest: Panama (0 %), Iceland (0 %), Costa Rica (0 %). World (GDP-weighted average): 2.5 %. France: 2 % (56th of 146).

Country ranking in 2025

Rank	Country	Value
1	Ukraine its history →	39.6 %
2	Algeria	8.8 %
3	Israel	7.8 %
4	Russia	7.5 %
5	Saudi Arabia	6.5 %
6	Azerbaijan	6.5 %
7	Armenia	6.1 %
8	Oman	5.7 %
9	Kuwait	4.7 %
10	Jordan	4.6 %
11	Poland	4.5 %
12	Mali	3.9 %
13	Latvia	3.6 %
14	Morocco	3.5 %
15	South Sudan	3.4 %
16	Estonia	3.4 %
17	Burkina Faso	3.3 %
18	Norway	3.3 %
19	Denmark	3.3 %
20	Burundi	3.2 %
21	Colombia	3.2 %
22	Chad	3.2 %
23	United States	3.1 %
24	Botswana	3.1 %
25	Lithuania	3.1 %
26	Singapore	3.1 %
27	Greece	3 %
28	Kyrgyzstan	2.9 %
29	Pakistan	2.9 %
30	Namibia	2.8 %
31	Serbia	2.8 %
32	Mauritania	2.8 %
33	South Korea	2.6 %
34	Finland	2.6 %
35	Lebanon	2.5 %
36	Tunisia	2.5 %
37	Sweden its history →	2.5 %
38	Iraq	2.5 %
39	Belarus	2.4 %
40	United Kingdom	2.4 %
41	Central African Republic	2.3 %
42	India its history →	2.3 %
43	Romania	2.3 %
44	Uruguay	2.3 %
45	Germany its history →	2.3 %
46	Timor-Leste	2.3 %
47	Netherlands its history →	2.2 %
48	Vietnam	2.2 %
49	Niger	2.1 %
50	Spain its history →	2.1 %
51	Ecuador	2.1 %
52	Taiwan	2.1 %
53	Iran	2.1 %
54	Hungary its history →	2 %
55	Albania	2 %
56	France its history →	2 %
57	Guinea	2 %
58	Slovakia	2 %
59	Croatia	2 %
60	Belgium	2 %
61	Bulgaria	2 %
62	North Macedonia	2 %
63	Uganda	2 %
64	Australia its history →	1.9 %
65	Türkiye	1.9 %
66	Italy	1.9 %
67	Montenegro	1.9 %
68	Mozambique	1.9 %
69	Togo	1.9 %
70	Czechia	1.8 %
71	Georgia	1.8 %
72	China	1.7 %
73	Portugal its history →	1.7 %
74	Gabon	1.7 %
75	Canada	1.6 %
76	Lesotho	1.6 %
77	Cyprus	1.6 %
78	Eswatini	1.6 %
79	Senegal	1.6 %
80	Somalia	1.5 %
81	Slovenia	1.5 %
82	Chile	1.5 %
83	Tajikistan	1.5 %
84	Honduras	1.5 %
85	Cambodia	1.5 %
86	Japan	1.4 %
87	Angola	1.4 %
88	Congo - Kinshasa	1.4 %
89	Jamaica	1.4 %
90	El Salvador	1.3 %
91	Fiji	1.3 %
92	Congo - Brazzaville	1.3 %
93	Sri Lanka	1.3 %
94	Philippines	1.3 %
95	Rwanda	1.3 %
96	Zambia	1.3 %
97	Bolivia	1.2 %
98	Tanzania	1.2 %
99	Malawi	1.2 %
100	Austria	1.1 %
101	New Zealand	1.1 %
102	Kenya	1.1 %
103	Cameroon	1.1 %
104	Brazil	1.1 %
105	Indonesia	1 %
106	Malaysia	1 %
107	Thailand	1 %
108	Belize	1 %
109	Guyana	1 %
110	Nepal	1 %
111	Trinidad & Tobago	0.9 %
112	Nigeria	0.9 %
113	Equatorial Guinea	0.9 %
114	Benin	0.9 %
115	Guinea-Bissau	0.9 %
116	Mongolia	0.9 %
117	Paraguay	0.9 %
118	Liberia	0.9 %
119	Luxembourg	0.9 %
120	Bangladesh	0.8 %
121	Peru	0.8 %
122	Dominican Republic	0.8 %
123	Côte d’Ivoire	0.8 %
124	Switzerland its history →	0.8 %
125	Mexico	0.7 %
126	South Africa	0.7 %
127	Bosnia & Herzegovina	0.7 %
128	Madagascar	0.6 %
129	Egypt	0.6 %
130	Gambia	0.6 %
131	Argentina its history →	0.6 %
132	Moldova	0.6 %
133	Nicaragua	0.6 %
134	Zimbabwe	0.6 %
135	Guatemala	0.5 %
136	Ethiopia	0.5 %
137	Ghana	0.5 %
138	Malta	0.5 %
139	Kazakhstan	0.4 %
140	Sierra Leone	0.4 %
141	Papua New Guinea	0.4 %
142	Ireland	0.2 %
143	Haiti	0.1 %
144	Costa Rica	0 %
145	Iceland	0 %
146	Panama	0 %

32 countries or territories have no value that year.

Continent averages

World (GDP-weighted average)	2.5 %
Europe (average)	3.6 %
Africa (average)	1.8 %
Americas (average)	2.4 %
Asia (average)	2 %
Oceania (average)	1.8 %

Understanding this map

What this figure measures

The figures come from SIPRI, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. They include soldiers' pay and pensions, arms purchases, maintenance, operations and military research. The share of GDP shows the effort a country makes, not its power: the United States spends only about 3% of GDP on the military, yet that is 37% of world military spending in 2024 ($1 trillion), three times China. The “amount” button shows it. Amounts are converted at exchange rates: a soldier, a tank or an arms factory costs far less in China, Russia or India than in the United States, so these countries' real effort is understated.

Cold War, peace dividend, rearmament

Early in the Cold War the United States spent about 9% of GDP on the military (1960); Israel 23% in 1970, Saudi Arabia 17% in 1985. After the end of the USSR spending fell almost everywhere: the “peace dividend”. Since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 it has been rising again: Ukraine spends nearly 40% of its GDP on the war in 2025, Russia 7.5%, and NATO members committed in 2025 to reach 5% of GDP by 2035 (3.5% for core defence).

Limits

Military budgets are often opaque. SIPRI publishes no figures for the USSR: Russia only appears in 1992, China in 1989, and North Korea never. Chinese and Russian figures are estimates, probably understated. The world average, GDP-weighted, only covers available countries: during the Cold War, without the Soviet bloc.

Sources : SIPRI Military Expenditure Database, via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0)

In the same theme : Public finances

Taxes Total revenue Top tax rate Total Military Education Health Social protection Research Deficit / surplus Rate − growth (r − g)% of GDP per person in years of taxes held abroad interest interest / taxes borrowing rate

All maps

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Page updated on 2026-11-03.