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.

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.

In 2023, the military spending worldwide amounted to 2.44 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. 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 in total, 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 2023. The United States spent nearly 916 billion U.S. dollars in 2023 towards defense, compared to 296 billion U.S. dollars and 109 billion U.S. dollars spent by China and Russia respectively. As a percentage of GDP, Ukraine spent the most globally, contributing nearly 37 percent of their GDP to defense, followed by Algeria at 8.2 percent and Saudi Arabia at 7.1 percent.

Historical chart and dataset showing Germany military spending/defense budget by year from 1960 to 2023.

Military Expenditure in Russia increased to 148967.30 USD Million in 2024 from 109203.60 USD Million in 2023. Russia Military Expenditure - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on July of 2025.

Military Expenditure in Panama remained unchanged at 0 USD Million in 2024 from 0 USD Million in 2023. This dataset provides - Panama Military Expenditure- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

The dataset comprises the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies’ armed force personnel as a share of total labor force (%), total labor force, military expenditure as a share of GDP (%), and GDP (current US dollar) during 1991–2019.

The sample countries are Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States (1991–2019); the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland (1999–2019); Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia (2004–2019), Albania and Croatia (2009–2019), and Montenegro (2017–2019).

The original data sources are:

NATO allies’ military expenditure as a share of GDP (%): Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. 2022. SIPRI Extended Military Expenditure Database. https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex

NATO allies’ armed force personnel as a share of total labor force (%), total labor force, and GDP (current US dollar): World Bank. 2022. World Development Indicators. https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators

United States US: GDP: % of GDP: Final Consumption Expenditure: General Government data was reported at 14.272 % in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 14.408 % for 2015. United States US: GDP: % of GDP: Final Consumption Expenditure: General Government data is updated yearly, averaging 15.841 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 18.069 % in 1970 and a record low of 13.996 % in 1998. United States US: GDP: % of GDP: 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 United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Gross Domestic Product: Share of GDP. 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.; ; World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files.; Weighted average;

United States US: GDP: Growth: Final Consumption Expenditure: General Government data was reported at 0.968 % in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1.332 % for 2015. United States US: GDP: Growth: Final Consumption Expenditure: General Government data is updated yearly, averaging 1.566 % from Dec 1971 (Median) to 2016, with 46 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4.928 % in 1985 and a record low of -2.654 % in 2011. United States US: GDP: Growth: 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 United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Gross Domestic Product: Annual Growth Rate. Annual percentage growth of general government final consumption expenditure based on constant local currency. Aggregates are based on constant 2010 U.S. dollars. General government final consumption expenditure (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.; ; World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files.; Weighted average;

Israel General Government Consumption Expenditure: Defense: Domestic: Production Taxes data was reported at 2,661.170 ILS mn in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 2,592.970 ILS mn for 2016. Israel General Government Consumption Expenditure: Defense: Domestic: Production Taxes data is updated yearly, averaging 1,489.574 ILS mn from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2017, with 18 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2,661.170 ILS mn in 2017 and a record low of 1,012.000 ILS mn in 2000. Israel General Government Consumption Expenditure: Defense: Domestic: Production Taxes data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Central Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Israel – Table IL.A029: SNA 2008: GDP: General Government Consumption Expenditure: Defense: Current Price.

Israel General Government Consumption Expenditure: Defense: Less Sales data was reported at 3,656.000 ILS mn in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 4,017.000 ILS mn for 2016. Israel General Government Consumption Expenditure: Defense: Less Sales data is updated yearly, averaging 1,738.000 ILS mn from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2017, with 18 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4,017.000 ILS mn in 2016 and a record low of 1,111.000 ILS mn in 2004. Israel General Government Consumption Expenditure: Defense: Less Sales data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Central Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Israel – Table IL.A029: SNA 2008: GDP: General Government Consumption Expenditure: Defense: Current Price.

Israel General Government Consumption Expenditure: Defense: Domestic: Purchases data was reported at 28,849.971 ILS mn in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 27,071.538 ILS mn for 2016. Israel General Government Consumption Expenditure: Defense: Domestic: Purchases data is updated yearly, averaging 20,010.626 ILS mn from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2017, with 18 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 28,849.971 ILS mn in 2017 and a record low of 13,566.000 ILS mn in 2001. Israel General Government Consumption Expenditure: Defense: Domestic: Purchases data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Central Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Israel – Table IL.A029: SNA 2008: GDP: General Government Consumption Expenditure: Defense: Current Price.