Ranking of the 50 countries with the largest defense budgets
Rank
Country
Defense spending
1
United States of America (North America)
567,800,000,000
2
China, People’s Republic (Asia)
86,930,000,000
3
Great Britain (Europe)
52,886,700,000
4
Russia (Europe)
52,448,000,000
5
France (Europe)
45,000,000,000
6
Japan (Asia)
44,794,800,000
7
Germany (Europe)
42,283,400,000
8
Italy (Europe)
33,086,400,000
9
Saudi Arabia (Asia)
29,438,000,000
10
Korea, Republic of (Asia)
22,474,000,000
11
India (Asia)
21,797,000,000
12
Australia (Australia-Oceania)
19,190,000,000
13
Turkey (Asia)
17,664,000,000
14
Spain (Europe)
12,584,000,000
15
Canada (North America)
12,494,100,000
16
Brazil (South America)
10,360,000,000
17
Netherlands (Europe)
9,747,600,000
18
Israel (Asia)
9,567,000,000
19
Taiwan (Asia)
8,214,000,000
20
Poland (Europe)
6,474,000,000
21
Korea, Democratic People’s Republic (Asia)
6,449,000,000
22
Iran (Asia)
6,329,000,000
23
Mexico (North America)
6,143,000,000
24
Greece (Europe)
5,890,000,000
25
Sweden (Europe)
5,483,000,000
26
Argentina (South America)
5,482,600,000
27
Norway (Europe)
5,168,100,000
28
Belgium (Europe)
4,826,800,000
29
Pakistan (Asia)
4,789,000,000
30
Portugal (Europe)
4,426,700,000
31
Chile (South America)
4,340,000,000
32
Colombia (South America)
4,273,000,000
33
Denmark (Europe)
4,176,800,000
34
Switzerland (Europe)
4,011,000,000
35
South Africa (Africa)
3,914,000,000
36
Algeria (Africa)
3,376,200,000
37
Kuwait (Asia)
3,228,000,000
38
Czech Republic (Europe)
3,086,000,000
39
Malaysia (Asia)
2,807,900,000
40
Finland (Europe)
2,724,000,000
41
Morocco (Africa)
2,577,400,000
42
Thailand (Asia)
2,546,000,000
43
Egypt (Africa)
2,521,200,000
44
Austria (Europe)
2,518,900,000
45
Syria, Arab Republic (Asia)
2,246,000,000
46
Angola (Africa)
2,190,000,000
47
Libya (Africa)
2,047,000,000
48
Venezuela (South America)
1,684,400,000
49
Hungary (Europe)
1,567,800,000
50
Qatar (Asia)
1,525,000,000
National Defense Budget.
This country comparison takes 157 countries into account.
Defense spending statistics
feature
value
Number of countries covered
157
average
7,953,190,382.17
Median
328,000,000
minimum
600,000
maximum
567,800,000,000
The front runner invests significantly more in military spending than other countries
A look at the top 50 countries with the highest defense spending for the military reveals that the investment amounts differ significantly from one another. There are already clear differences between first place and the successor positions. After all, countries equip their military with weapons and defense costs for various reasons. And one country is unbeaten in international comparison – the USA. By far the United States ranks first as the country with the highest military spending. In 2017 alone, the country invested a total of $ 610 billion in the military. In an international comparison, this amount corresponds to a total of 35 percent of all military expenditure. According to statements by SIPRI – the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute – expenditure has steadily fallen since 2010. See aparentingblog.com for Europe’s largest countries by population and area.
China: investment sums in the billions
For many, it is certainly not surprising that China secured second place in the armaments ranking. In contrast to the US, China is said to have invested around 228 billion dollars in defense for the military, according to SIPRI. The People’s Republic has almost doubled its share of the costs since 2008 – a considerable sum. Specialists from SIPRI could only estimate the military expenditure of Saudi Arabia. Still, the institute estimates that the country invested approximately $ 69.4 billion. This value corresponds to roughly one tenth of the gross domestic product. That is why Saudi Arabia has secured third place. The trend is upwards. Since 2008, total annual military defense spending has increased 34 percent.
Russia is investing more and more costs in its military defense
Russia ranks next. There is also a clear upward trend in this country, as Russia invests more than less money in military spending each year. A similar situation prevails with the fifth-placed India. This state is clearly arming itself. In 2017, the state invested around $ 63.9 billion in the military. These costs are 45 percent higher than in 2008. This strong increase is presumably due to the booming economy. Another reason could be the dollar’s exchange rate. It remains to be seen how this trend will develop over the next few years.
Germany is also in the top 10
There are many other countries around the world that invest billions every year in order to be prepared for defense in the event of a military dispute. Many countries spare no expense in increasing their own security. Another example is France, although its defense spending has only increased by around 5 percent since 2008. In contrast, the UK is still investing around $ 47 billion a year. Nevertheless, with this value, Great Britain has a minus of around 15 percent over the past decade. Countries like South Korea and Germany join Japan. Because Germany also grew by almost 9 percent in a ten-year comparison. Nevertheless, the share of military spending in the gross domestic product fell slightly from 1.3 to 1.2 percent.
