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 September of 2025.

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.

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 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 (A824RE1Q156NBEA) from Q1 1947 to Q2 2025 about defense, Shares of GDP, investment, gross, federal, consumption expenditures, consumption, government, GDP, and USA.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In 2025, Poland's defense spending as a share of gross domestic product was **** percent, the highest of all NATO member states, followed by Lithuania at *****percent, and then Latvia at **** 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 the alliance's 32 member states would meet this target. The average expenditure on defense expenditure across all NATO member states was **** percent in this year. NATO, Trump, 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 the main contributor of military aid to Ukraine. Furthermore, in overall defense spending, the U.S. spends far more than the rest of NATO combined. The current Trump administration has frequently criticized NATO states that they see as taking advantage of this discrepancy, urging other members to reach and even exceed the two percent threshold. 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

In 2024, the military spending worldwide amounted to 2.7 trillion U.S. dollars, which was the highest during the period under consideration. Comparatively, global military spending was at 1.1 trillion U.S. dollars in 2001 and at 1.7 trillion U.S. dollars in 2010, past the peak of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Russia-Ukraine War The Russia-Ukraine War has been a major driver of more recent military spending increases. From 2021 to 2022, the ratio of Ukraine’s military spending to their GDP increased substantially from 3.8 percent to 33.5 percent, reaching 36 percent in 2023. By comparison, this ratio increased in Russia from 3.6 percent in 2021 to only 4 percent in 2022. As a result, large amounts of bilateral aid have gone towards Ukraine. While EU institutions have contributed the most financial and humanitarian aid, the United States has contributed the most military aid towards Ukraine. Spending by nation Globally, the United States had the largest amount of military spending by large in 2024. The United States spent 997 billion U.S. dollars in 2024 towards defense, compared to 314 billion U.S. dollars and 149 billion U.S. dollars spent by China and Russia, respectively. As a percentage of GDP, Ukraine spent the most globally, contributing nearly 35 percent of their GDP to defense, followed by Israel at 8.8 percent and Algeria at eight percent.

Graph and download economic data for Contributions to percent change in real gross domestic product: Government consumption expenditures: Federal: National defense (A997RY2Q224SBEA) from Q2 1947 to Q2 2025 about defense, contributions, percent, consumption expenditures, federal, consumption, government, real, GDP, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Real National Defense Consumption Expenditures: Gross Output of General Government: Value Added: Compensation of General Government Employees: Military (B4080L1Q225SBEA) from Q2 1972 to Q2 2025 about military, defense, value added, output, compensation, gross, consumption expenditures, consumption, government, employment, real, GDP, rate, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Contribution to percent change in real government consumption expenditures and gross investment: Federal: National defense: Consumption expenditures (A997RZ2A224NBEA) from 1930 to 2024 about defense, contributions, investment, gross, percent, federal, consumption expenditures, consumption, government, real, GDP, and USA.