Military Expenditure
Military Expenditure by country
Commentary
Notable countries
The United States is the clear outlier in military expenditure at USD 997,000 million, far ahead of China at USD 314,000 million and Russia at USD 149,000 million. Europe is heavily represented near the top, with Germany, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and France all in the top 10, while Asia also features prominently through China, India, Saudi Arabia, and Japan. At the bottom, several very small states and island countries report just USD 5 million, while Iceland and Vatican City are listed at USD 0 million. A notable surprise is Ukraine’s joint eighth-place ranking with France at USD 64,700 million.
Regional trends
North America has by far the highest continental average at USD 45,510 million, well above Asia at USD 17,380 million and Europe at USD 15,150 million. Asia and Europe both combine high regional averages with multiple countries in the global top 10, indicating that spending is concentrated in several major powers. South America’s average drops sharply to USD 4,425 million, while Oceania and especially Africa are much lower at USD 2,701 million and USD 1,076 million respectively. Overall, the regional pattern shows a steep gap between the top-spending continents and the rest.
Data source
The data come from SIPRI 2024 and are measured in USD million. Coverage includes 194 countries with reported military expenditure. Values are highly uneven across countries, ranging from 0 to nearly USD 1 trillion, so comparisons should be read with that wide spread in mind.
Interpretation
Higher values mean greater military expenditure in absolute dollar terms, so countries at the top are committing far more financial resources to defense than those at the bottom. Low values do not necessarily imply weakness on their own, since this metric does not account for population size, economic scale, or security arrangements. The data show that global military spending is extremely concentrated in a small number of countries. A balanced reading is that absolute spending highlights geopolitical weight, but it does not by itself measure efficiency, capability, or strategic need.