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 March 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.

As a share of gross domestic product (GDP), Ukraine spent more on its military than any other country in 2023, reaching 37 percent of the country's GDP. The high figure is due to the country being invaded by Russia in February 2022. Algeria and Saudi Arabia 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 ratio of military expenditure to gross domestic product (GDP) in the United States saw no significant changes in 2022 in comparison to the previous year 2021 and remained at around 3.45 percent. Still, 2022 marked the second consecutive decline of the ratio. These figures refer to the total amount of money spent on a country's military, as a share of its gross domestic product (GDP). These figures apply to current expenditure on a country's armed forces, including peacekeeping forces and defense ministries, among others.Find more key insights for the ratio of military expenditure to gross domestic product (GDP) in countries like Mexico and Canada.

The United States led the ranking of the countries with the highest military spending in 2023, with 916 billion U.S. dollars dedicated to the military. That constituted over 40 percent of the total military spending worldwide that year, which amounted to 2.4 trillion U.S. dollars. This amounted to 3.5 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), placing the U.S. lower in the ranking of military expenditure as a percentage of GDP than for instance Saudi Arabia, Israel, Algeria, and Russia. China was the second largest military spender with an estimated 296 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 2.44 trillion U.S. dollars in 2023. 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.

Graph and download economic data for Government current expenditures: National defense (G160071A027NBEA) from 1959 to 2023 about defense, expenditures, government, GDP, and USA.

The statistic represents the U.S. defense outlays from 2000 to 2023 with an additional forecast from 2024 to 2034, as a percentage of the gross domestic product. Defense outlays amounted to 746 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, which was about three percent of the U.S. GDP. The forecast predicts an increase in defense outlays up to 1.1 trillion U.S. dollars by 2033, which would be about 2.8 percent of U.S. GDP.

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, federal, consumption expenditures, consumption, government, GDP, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Government Consumption Expenditures and Gross Investment: Federal: National defense (NA000331Q) from Q1 1947 to Q4 2024 about defense, investment, gross, federal, consumption expenditures, consumption, government, GDP, and USA.

In 2023, the military expenditure of Colombia accounted for approximately 2.87 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 2.3 percent of its GDP on military expenditures.

In 2024, Poland's defense spending as a share of gross domestic product was 4.12 percent, the highest of all NATO member states, followed by Estonia at 3.43 percent, and then the United States at 3.38 percent. It is a target of NATO that every member country should spend at least two percent of their GDP on defense. As of this year, it is estimated that all but eight of the alliance's 31 member states were meeting this target. The average expenditure on defense expenditure across all NATO member states was 2.71 percent in 2024, compared with 2.53 percent in the previous year. Article 5 triggered in the aftermath of 9/11 While NATO was founded with the aim of deterring the Soviet Union in the Cold War, its central defense clause "Article 5" whereby an attack on one member is considered an attack on all, has only been triggered once; after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States. NATO's involvement in the subsequent War in Afghanistan was a direct result of this, with troops supporting the operation from across the alliance. Although NATO's focus drifted towards counter-insurgency, and the threat from terrorism in this period, its original purpose has become far more important recently. NATO, America, and the War in Ukraine Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 shook many European powers out of a creeping complacency that had set in since the end of the Cold War. It led directly to the applications of Sweden and Finland to the alliance in 2022, with the latter joining later that year. The conflict has however also underlined how Europe's security is still underpinned by American military power, with the United States by far the main contributor of military aid to Ukraine. Furthermore, in overall defense spending,the U.S. spends more than the rest of NATO combined. Threats from former U.S. President, and likely 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump to withdraw from the alliance, therefore put NATO's ability to provide European security at risk in the future.

Analysis of ‘US Military Spending by Year (1960 - 2020)’ provided by Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai), based on source dataset retrieved from https://www.kaggle.com/brandonconrady/us-military-spending-by-year-1960-2020 on 28 January 2022.

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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

--- Original source retains full ownership of the source dataset ---

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).

The Second World War was fought on such a large scale that it became total war in many countries - this is where the war effort is prioritized above all else, and the entire population and economy are mobilized to support all military endeavors. Germany and Japan were committing over 70 percent of their national income to the war effort in its final years.

There were also notable fluctuations that coincided with major events for corresponding powers. These included the UK's mobilization of its defenses in 1940, after Germany took most of Western Europe; the spike in Soviet military spending after Operation Barbarossa in June, 1941; and the U.S. entry into the war following the Pearl Harbor attacks in December, 1941.

Graph and download economic data for Government consumption expenditures: Federal: National defense (A997RC1Q027SBEA) from Q1 1947 to Q4 2024 about defense, federal, consumption expenditures, 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

United States US: GDP: USD: Final Consumption Expenditure: General Government data was reported at 2,658.088 USD bn in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 2,610.800 USD bn for 2015. United States US: GDP: USD: Final Consumption Expenditure: General Government data is updated yearly, averaging 819.773 USD bn from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2,658.088 USD bn in 2016 and a record low of 85.000 USD bn in 1960. United States US: GDP: USD: Final Consumption Expenditure: General Government data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Gross Domestic Product: Nominal. General government final consumption expenditure (formerly general government consumption) includes all government current expenditures for purchases of goods and services (including compensation of employees). It also includes most expenditures on national defense and security, but excludes government military expenditures that are part of government capital formation. Data are in current U.S. dollars.; ; World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files.; Gap-filled total;

Graph and download economic data for Real Government Consumption Expenditures and Gross Investment: Federal: National Defense (A824RO1Q156NBEA) from Q1 1948 to Q4 2024 about defense, investment, gross, federal, consumption expenditures, consumption, government, real, GDP, rate, and USA.

This scatter chart displays GDP (current US$) against military expenditure (% of GDP) and is filtered where the continent is Europe. The data is about countries.

Military Expenditure in Russia increased to 109454.40 USD Million in 2023 from 102366.60 USD Million in 2022. Russia Military Expenditure - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on March of 2025.