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.

Government spending in the United States was last recorded at 39.7 percent of GDP in 2024 . This dataset provides - United States Government Spending To Gdp- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Historical chart and dataset showing Egypt military spending/defense budget by year from 1962 to 2023.

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.

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

The United States recorded a Government Debt to GDP of 124.30 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product in 2024. This dataset provides - United States Government Debt To GDP - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

United States US: Total Business Enterprise R&D Personnel: Per Thousand Employment In Industry data was reported at 17.169 Per 1000 in 2020. This records an increase from the previous number of 15.152 Per 1000 for 2019. United States US: Total Business Enterprise R&D Personnel: Per Thousand Employment In Industry data is updated yearly, averaging 13.282 Per 1000 from Dec 2011 (Median) to 2020, with 10 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 17.169 Per 1000 in 2020 and a record low of 12.478 Per 1000 in 2012. United States US: Total Business Enterprise R&D Personnel: Per Thousand Employment In Industry data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.OECD.MSTI: Number of Researchers and Personnel on Research and Development: OECD Member: Annual.

Definition of MSTI variables 'Value Added of Industry' and 'Industrial Employment':

R&D data are typically expressed as a percentage of GDP to allow cross-country comparisons. When compiling such indicators for the business enterprise sector, one may wish to exclude, from GDP measures, economic activities for which the Business R&D (BERD) is null or negligible by definition. By doing so, the adjusted denominator (GDP, or Value Added, excluding non-relevant industries) better correspond to the numerator (BERD) with which it is compared to.

The MSTI variable 'Value added in industry' is used to this end:

It is calculated as the total Gross Value Added (GVA) excluding 'real estate activities' (ISIC rev.4 68) where the 'imputed rent of owner-occupied dwellings', specific to the framework of the System of National Accounts, represents a significant share of total GVA and has no R&D counterpart. Moreover, the R&D performed by the community, social and personal services is mainly driven by R&D performers other than businesses.

Consequently, the following service industries are also excluded: ISIC rev.4 84 to 88 and 97 to 98. GVA data are presented at basic prices except for the People's Republic of China, Japan and New Zealand (expressed at producers' prices).In the same way, some indicators on R&D personnel in the business sector are expressed as a percentage of industrial employment. The latter corresponds to total employment excluding ISIC rev.4 68, 84 to 88 and 97 to 98.

The United States recorded a Government Budget deficit equal to 6.30 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product in 2023. This dataset provides - United States Government Budget - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Iran was worth 436.91 billion US dollars in 2024, according to official data from the World Bank. The GDP value of Iran represents 0.41 percent of the world economy. This dataset provides - Iran GDP - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Russia was worth 2173.84 billion US dollars in 2024, according to official data from the World Bank. The GDP value of Russia represents 2.05 percent of the world economy. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - Russia GDP - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Mexico was worth 1852.72 billion US dollars in 2024, according to official data from the World Bank. The GDP value of Mexico represents 1.75 percent of the world economy. This dataset provides - Mexico GDP - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Nigeria was worth 187.76 billion US dollars in 2024, according to official data from the World Bank. The GDP value of Nigeria represents 0.18 percent of the world economy. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - Nigeria GDP - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

The United States recorded a trade deficit of 71.52 USD Billion in May of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States Balance of Trade - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in India was worth 3912.69 billion US dollars in 2024, according to official data from the World Bank. The GDP value of India represents 3.69 percent of the world economy. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - India GDP - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

The Gross Domestic Product per capita in the United Kingdom was last recorded at 52517.98 US dollars in 2024, when adjusted by purchasing power parity (PPP). The GDP per Capita, in the United Kingdom, when adjusted by Purchasing Power Parity is equivalent to 296 percent of the world's average. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United Kingdom GDP per capita PPP - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.