Military expenditure (% of GDP) in United States was reported at 3.3618 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. United States - Military expenditure (% of GDP) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on October of 2025.

United States US: Military Expenditure: % of GDP data was reported at 3.149 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 3.222 % for 2016. United States US: Military Expenditure: % of GDP data is updated yearly, averaging 4.864 % from Sep 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 9.063 % in 1967 and a record low of 2.908 % in 1999. United States US: Military Expenditure: % of GDP data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Defense and Official Development Assistance. Military expenditures data from SIPRI are derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces; defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects; paramilitary forces, if these are judged to be trained and equipped for military operations; and military space activities. Such expenditures include military and civil personnel, including retirement pensions of military personnel and social services for personnel; operation and maintenance; procurement; military research and development; and military aid (in the military expenditures of the donor country). Excluded are civil defense and current expenditures for previous military activities, such as for veterans' benefits, demobilization, conversion, and destruction of weapons. This definition cannot be applied for all countries, however, since that would require much more detailed information than is available about what is included in military budgets and off-budget military expenditure items. (For example, military budgets might or might not cover civil defense, reserves and auxiliary forces, police and paramilitary forces, dual-purpose forces such as military and civilian police, military grants in kind, pensions for military personnel, and social security contributions paid by one part of government to another.); ; Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Yearbook: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security.; Weighted average; Data for some countries are based on partial or uncertain data or rough estimates.

In 2023, the ratio of military expenditure to gross domestic product (GDP) in the United States was 3.36 percent. Between 1960 and 2023, the figure dropped by 5.63 percentage points, though the decline followed an uneven course rather than a steady trajectory.

As a share of gross domestic product (GDP), Ukraine spent more on its military than any other country in 2024, reaching 35 percent of the country's GDP. The high figure is due to the country being invaded by Russia in February 2022. Israel, that is fighting Hamas in the Gaza war, and Algeria followed behind.Leading military spending countriesIn gross terms, the countries with the highest military spending are the United States, China, and Russia. However, these are countries with large populations and GDPs, and smaller countries usually cannot compete alone, regardless of how much they invest. For this reason, they form alliances such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). NATO countries aim to pool two percent of their GDP towards their own militaries and to aid each other in case of war. Regional differencesThe past decade has seen an increase in global military spending. This has not been distributed evenly. That period saw large positive changes in military spending from several Asian countries, including a large increase from China. While this does not reflect the number of active conflicts, it reflects growing tensions in global affairs.

The United States led the ranking of the countries with the highest military spending in 2024, with 997 billion U.S. dollars dedicated to the military. That constituted almost 40 percent of the total military spending worldwide that year, which amounted to 2.7 trillion U.S. dollars. This amounted to 3.4 percent of the U.S.'s gross domestic product (GDP), placing the country lower in the ranking of military expenditure as a percentage of GDP, compared to Ukraine, Israel, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, and Russia. China was the second largest military spender, with an estimated 314 billion U.S. dollars spent, with Russia following in third. Defense budgetAccording to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, the outlays for defense will rise to 1.1 trillion U.S. dollars by 2033. The largest parts of the budget are dedicated to the Departments of the Navy and the Air Force. The budget for the U.S. Air Force for 2024 was nearly 260 billion U.S. dollars.Global military spendingThe value of military spending globally has grown steadily in the past years and reached 2.7 trillion U.S. dollars in 2024. Reasons for this are the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, the war in Gaza, as well as increasing tensions in the South China Sea. North America is by far the leading region worldwide in terms of expenditure on the military.

The average for 2022 based on 145 countries was 1.98 percent. The highest value was in Ukraine: 33.55 percent and the lowest value was in Haiti: 0.07 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Graph and download economic data for Government current expenditures: Federal: National defense (G160461A027NBEA) from 1959 to 2023 about defense, expenditures, federal, government, GDP, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Shares of gross domestic product: Government consumption expenditures and gross investment: Federal: National defense (A824RE1Q156NBEA) from Q1 1947 to Q2 2025 about Shares of GDP, defense, investment, gross, consumption expenditures, federal, consumption, government, GDP, and USA.

Content

Lists the military spending, GDP, and population estimate for the US each year from 1960 to 2020.

Acknowledgements

Banner image source: https://unsplash.com/photos/BQgAYwERXhs

Graph and download economic data for Shares of gross domestic product: Government consumption expenditures and gross investment: Federal: National defense (A824RE1A156NBEA) from 1929 to 2024 about Shares of GDP, defense, investment, gross, consumption expenditures, federal, consumption, government, GDP, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Federal Government: National Defense Consumption Expenditures and Gross Investment (FDEFX) from Q1 1947 to Q2 2025 about defense, investment, gross, consumption expenditures, federal, consumption, government, GDP, and USA.

In 2024, the military expenditure of Colombia accounted for approximately 3.36 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), the highest share in Latin America and the Caribbean. Ecuador is also one of the countries in the region with the highest military budget in relation to its GDP, having spent an estimated sum comparable to 2.2 percent of its GDP on military expenditures.

The average for 2022 based on 11 countries was 1.37 percent. The highest value was in Colombia: 3.08 percent and the lowest value was in Argentina: 0.41 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

This scatter chart displays GDP (current US$) against military expenditure (% of GDP) in the United States. The data is about countries per year.

In 2022, the U.S. government spent more on healthcare than any other country, at 16.6 percent of GDP. In the same year, U.S. military expenditure was 3.45 percent of GDP. This statistic shows the healthcare and military expenditure as a percentage of GDP in select countries in 2022.

This scatter chart displays GDP (current US$) against military expenditure (% of GDP). The data is about countries.

Defense outlays in the United States reached three percent of the GDP in 2024. This amounted to a total value of about 855 billion U.S. dollars. The share of this expenditure was expected to decrease to 2.4 percent of U.S. GDP by 2035.

Countries by Military Spending

How Much Do They Spend and What Does It Mean for Their Budgets?

By Makeover Monday [source]

About this dataset

This dataset contains data on military spending by country from the SIPRI Military Expenditure Database. The data covers military spending from 2020 and includes information on spending as a percentage of GDP and government spending, as well as per capita spending

How to use the dataset

Research Ideas

• Analyzing trends in global military spending over time
• Examining the relationship between a country's military spending and its GDP
• Comparing the military spending of different countries

Acknowledgements

Data Source

License

License: Dataset copyright by authors - You are free to: - Share - copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially. - Adapt - remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially. - You must: - Give appropriate credit - Provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. - ShareAlike - You must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. - Keep intact - all notices that refer to this license, including copyright notices.

Columns

File: SIPRI Military Expenditure Database.csv | Column name | Description | |:-----------------------------------|:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Year | The year the data was collected. (Integer) | | Country | The country the data is about. (String) | | Spending (2020 USD) | The amount spent on the military in 2020, in US dollars. (Float) | | Percent of GDP | The percent of the country's GDP that was spent on the military in 2020. (Float) | | Percent of Government Spending | The percent of the country's government spending that was spent on the military in 2020. (Float) | | Spending per Capita | The amount spent on the military per person in 2020, in US dollars. (Float) |

Acknowledgements

If you use this dataset in your research, please credit Makeover Monday.

This dataset provides values for MILITARY EXPENDITURE PERCENT OF GDP WB DATA.HTML reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

The average for 2022 based on 17 countries was 1.16 percent. The highest value was in Colombia: 3.08 percent and the lowest value was in Haiti: 0.07 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.