One of the easiest ways to identify a nation’s priorities is by tracking its expenditures, and military spend is no different.
Usually spending is measured, and ranked, in absolute amounts. For example, countries around the world collectively spent $2.1 trillion on their militaries in 2021, with the most coming from the U.S. ($800 billion), China ($293 billion), and India ($77 billion).
But, as Visual Capitalist's Pallavi Rao details below, these eye-popping figures are best understood in the context of each country’s economy. Using data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Varun Jain has visualized 158 countries’ military expenditures, both as a percentage of their total GDP as well as in average per-capita spend.
To begin, Jain identified three categories of military expenditure as a percent of GDP, using the five-year (2018‒2022) average for more consistent data:
Under this categorization, the stand outs are the countries spending an outsized amount of their economic output on military, rather than the highest total spenders in absolute terms.
At the top of the table is Ukraine, which has earmarked a staggering average of 9.46% of its total economic output on defense over the past five years. That’s well ahead of second-place Saudi Arabia, which is slightly above 8%.
In Ukraine’s case, its high ranking shows how quickly priorities can change. From 2018 to 2021, the country spent 3.2-3.8% of its GDP on its military, but the outbreak of war with Russia saw its expenditures jump to one-third of economic output.
Other countries from the Middle East and North Africa follow in this tier, with Oman third at 8.11% and Qatar fourth with 5.88%. Rounding out the top seven high spenders are Algeria, Kuwait, and Israel.
Rank
Country
Military Spend
% of GDP
1
???????? Ukraine
High
9.46%
2
???????? Saudi Arabia
High
8.19%
3
???????? Oman
High
8.11%
4
???????? Qatar
High
5.88%
5
???????? Algeria
High
5.70%
6
???????? Kuwait
High
5.66%
7
???????? Israel
High
5.09%
8
???????? Jordan
Medium
4.81%
9
???????? Armenia
Medium
4.53%
10
???????? Azerbaijan
Medium
4.53%
11
???????? Lebanon
Medium
4.01%
12
???????? Russia
Medium
3.98%
13
???????? Bahrain
Medium
3.79%
14
???????? Pakistan
Medium
3.75%
15
???????? Morocco
Medium
3.72%
16
???????? Uzbekistan
Medium
3.56%
17
???????? U.S.
Medium
3.48%
18
???????? Colombia
Medium
3.24%
19
???????? Greece
Medium
3.15%
20
???????? Namibia
Medium
3.09%
21
???????? Brunei
Medium
3.09%
22
???????? South Sudan
Medium
3.05%
23
???????? Togo
Medium
3.03%
24
???????? Mali
Medium
2.90%
25
???????? Cuba
Medium
2.88%
26
???????? Singapore
Medium
2.86%
27
???????? Botswana
Medium
2.86%
28
???????? Myanmar
Medium
2.76%
29
???????? Burkina Faso
Medium
2.70%
30
???????? Iraq
Medium
2.69%
31
???????? South Korea
Medium
2.69%
32
???????? Republic of Congo
Medium
2.68%
33
???????? Chad
Medium
2.66%
34
???????? India
Medium
2.58%
35
???????? Tunisia
Medium
2.58%
36
???????? Ecuador
Medium
2.34%
37
???????? Iran
Medium
2.32%
38
???????? Viet Nam
Medium
2.28%
39
???????? Cambodia
Medium
2.26%
40
???????? Mauritania
Medium
2.24%
41
???????? Niger
Medium
2.21%
42
???????? Burundi
Medium
2.21%
43
???????? Turkey
Medium
2.19%
44
???????? Poland
Medium
2.17%
45
???????? Latvia
Medium
2.14%
46
???????? Lithuania
Medium
2.13%
47
???????? Estonia
Medium
2.13%
48
???????? United Kingdom
Medium
2.12%
49
???????? Uruguay
Medium
2.11%
50
???????? Serbia
Medium
2.06%
51
???????? Uganda
Medium
2.02%
52
???????? Croatia
Low
1.97%
53
???????? Australia
Low
1.93%
54
???????? Chile
Low
1.92%
55
???????? France
Low
1.91%
56
???????? Cyprus
Low
1.90%
57
???????? Romania
Low
1.87%
58
???????? Bulgaria
Low
1.85%
59
???????? Eswatini
Low
1.82%
60
???????? Norway
Low
1.81%
61
???????? Central African Republic
Low
1.78%
62
???????? Sri Lanka
Low
1.77%
63
???????? Portugal
Low
1.77%
64
???????? Taiwan
Low
1.76%
65
???????? China
Low
1.72%
66
???????? Georgia
Low
1.71%
67
???????? Slovakia
Low
1.67%
68
???????? Guinea-Bissau
Low
1.65%
69
???????? Kyrgyzstan
Low
1.62%
70
???????? Guinea
Low
1.61%
71
???????? Finland
Low
1.60%
72
???????? Senegal
Low
1.58%
73
???????? Honduras
Low
1.56%
74
???????? Gabon
Low
1.56%
75
???????? Mozambique
Low
1.56%
76
???????? Lesotho
Low
1.56%
77
???????? Montenegro
Low
1.54%
78
???????? Fiji
Low
1.54%
79
???????? Jamaica
Low
1.49%
80
???????? Angola
Low
1.48%
81
???????? Italy
Low
1.48%
82
???????? Hungary
Low
1.48%
83
???????? Bolivia
Low
1.46%
84
???????? Seychelles
Low
1.43%
85
???????? Netherlands
Low
1.41%
86
???????? Sudan
Low
1.39%
87
???????? Rwanda
Low
1.39%
88
???????? Nepal
Low
1.36%
89
???????? Denmark
Low
1.36%
90
???????? Albania
Low
1.34%
91
???????? Spain
Low
1.34%
92
???????? Thailand
Low
1.33%
93
???????? Afghanistan
Low
1.33%
94
???????? New Zealand
Low
1.32%
95
???????? Canada
Low
1.32%
96
???????? Germany
Low
1.31%
97
???????? North Macedonia
Low
1.30%
98
???????? Brazil
Low
1.29%
99
???????? Belize
Low
1.28%
100
???????? El Salvador
Low
1.28%
101
???????? Bangladesh
Low
1.26%
102
???????? Zambia
Low
1.25%
103
???????? Equatorial Guinea
Low
1.24%
104
???????? Guyana
Low
1.22%
105
???????? Cote d'Ivoire
Low
1.22%
106
???????? Egypt
Low
1.20%
107
???????? Peru
Low
1.20%
108
???????? Belarus
Low
1.18%
109
???????? Sweden
Low
1.17%
110
???????? Kenya
Low
1.13%
111
???????? Slovenia
Low
1.10%
112
???????? Timor Leste
Low
1.08%
113
???????? Tanzania
Low
1.05%
114
???????? Cameroon
Low
1.04%
115
???????? Tajikistan
Low
1.03%
116
???????? Japan
Low
1.03%
117
???????? Belgium
Low
1.02%
118
???????? Liberia
Low
1.00%
119
???????? Malaysia
Low
0.98%
120
???????? Philippines
Low
0.96%
121
???????? Paraguay
Low
0.95%
122
???????? Kosovo
Low
0.95%
123
???????? South Africa
Low
0.94%
124
???????? Malawi
Low
0.92%
125
???????? Bosnia and Herzegovina
Low
0.84%
126
???????? Kazakhstan
Low
0.83%
127
???????? Austria
Low
0.78%
128
???????? Gambia
Low
0.76%
129
???????? Trinidad & Tobago
Low
0.75%
130
???????? Indonesia
Low
0.74%
131
???????? Switzerland
Low
0.73%
132
???????? Czech Republic
Low
0.71%
133
???????? Dominican Republic
Low
0.70%
134
???????? Mongolia
Low
0.69%
135
???????? Madagascar
Low
0.68%
136
???????? Dem. Rep. of Congo
Low
0.64%
137
???????? Nigeria
Low
0.64%
138
???????? Ethiopia
Low
0.64%
139
???????? Sierra Leone
Low
0.64%
140
???????? Argentina
Low
0.63%
141
???????? Luxembourg
Low
0.61%
142
???????? Mexico
Low
0.61%
143
???????? Nicaragua
Low
0.60%
144
???????? Cape Verde
Low
0.54%
145
???????? Benin
Low
0.54%
146
???????? Malta
Low
0.48%
147
???????? Guatemala
Low
0.45%
148
???????? Ghana
Low
0.43%
149
???????? Papua New Guinea
Low
0.38%
150
???????? Moldova
Low
0.36%
151
???????? Ireland
Low
0.27%
152
???????? Zimbabwe
Low
0.26%
153
???????? Venezuela
Low
0.20%
154
???????? Haiti
Low
0.17%
155
???????? Mauritius
Low
0.16%
156
???????? Costa Rica
Low
0.00%
157
???????? Iceland
Low
0.00%
158
???????? Panama
Low
0.00%
The medium group consists of 44 countries and is led by four nations (Jordan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Lebanon) that all spend more than 4% of their GDP on their militaries. Other familiar countries known to have large military budgets, like Russia, Pakistan, the U.S., India and the UK, are also in this category.
The low spend group has a total of 107 countries, but also contains some surprises. For example, China, France, and Germany—all in the top 10 countries by absolute military spend—actually have similar amounts of military spend as a percent of GDP as Georgia, Cyprus, and North Macedonia respectively.
At the bottom of the table are countries with either low military importance, or strange technicalities. For example, Mauritius is one of the countries with the lowest military budgets because it doesn’t officially have a standing military, instead relying on two paramilitary forces (a special mobile force and a Coast Guard).
Similarly, Iceland allocates 0% of its GDP towards military spending. In place of a standing army, the country maintains a specialized peacekeeping force, a substantial Coast Guard, and relies on security alliances within NATO, of which it is a member and provides financial support to.
While the measure above equalizes military spend on economic strength, per-capita military spending shows how much countries allocate while accounting for population size.
On a per-capita basis (again using a five-year average), Qatar leads the ranks with a per-capita spend of $4,564, well-ahead of Israel at $2,535, and Saudi Arabia at $1,928.
Rank
Country
Per Capita Spend ($)
1
???????? Qatar
$4,564
2
???????? Israel
$2,535
3
???????? Saudi Arabia
$1,928
4
???????? Singapore
$1,837
5
???????? Kuwait
$1,815
6
???????? U.S.
$1,815
7
???????? Norway
$1,438
8
???????? Oman
$1,254
9
???????? Australia
$1,131
10
???????? Brunei
$959
11
???????? UK
$913
12
???????? South Korea
$894
13
???????? Bahrain
$863
14
???????? Denmark
$861
15
???????? France
$811
16
???????? Finland
$801
17
???????? Netherlands
$765
18
???????? Luxembourg
$694
19
???????? Sweden
$662
20
???????? Switzerland
$647
21
???????? Canada
$645
22
???????? Greece
$629
23
???????? Germany
$623
24
???????? New Zealand
$610
25
???????? Estonia
$535
26
???????? Taiwan
$495
27
???????? Italy
$494
28
???????? Belgium
$487
29
???????? Russia
$467
30
???????? Lithuania
$463
31
???????? Portugal
$417
32
???????? Latvia
$405
33
???????? Cyprus
$399
34
???????? Japan
$398
35
???????? Spain
$395
36
???????? Austria
$393
37
???????? Poland
$359
38
???????? Uruguay
$354
39
???????? Slovakia
$334
40
???????? Lebanon
$334
41
???????? Slovenia
$302
42
???????? Ukraine
$302
43
???????? Croatia
$294
44
???????? Chile
$292
45
???????? Romania
$258
46
???????? Hungary
$248
47
???????? Ireland
$235
48
???????? Seychelles
$230
49
???????? Azerbaijan
$226
50
???????? Algeria
$219
51
???????? Armenia
$217
52
???????? Botswana
$215
53
???????? Jordan
$207
54
???????? Turkey
$199
55
???????? Colombia
$197
56
???????? Bulgaria
$194
57
???????? China
$183
58
???????? Malta
$175
59
???????? Czech Republic
$175
60
???????? Iran
$169
61
???????? Namibia
$159
62
???????? Iraq
$145
63
???????? Ecuador
$138
64
???????? Montenegro
$137
65
???????? Serbia
$133
66
???????? Trinidad & Tobago
$131
67
???????? Gabon
$124
68
???????? Morocco
$122
69
???????? Equatorial Guinea
$112
70
???????? Malaysia
$109
71
???????? Brazil
$107
72
???????? Thailand
$97
73
???????? Guyana
$92
74
???????? Tunisia
$91
75
???????? Fiji
$83
76
???????? North Macedonia
$83
77
???????? Kazakhstan
$82
78
???????? Peru
$81
79
???????? Georgia
$80
80
???????? Belarus
$80
81
???????? Jamaica
$77
82
???????? Albania
$76
83
???????? Eswatini
$72
84
???????? Sri Lanka
$69
85
???????? Argentina
$66
86
???????? Belize
$60
87
???????? Mexico
$59
88
???????? Dominican Republic
$58
89
???????? Viet Nam
$58
90
???????? South Africa
$56
91
???????? El Salvador
$54
92
???????? Bosnia and Herzegovina
$54
93
???????? India
$53
94
???????? Republic of Congo
$53
95
???????? Paraguay
$52
96
???????? Bolivia
$51
97
???????? Pakistan
$49
98
???????? Uzbekistan
$44
99
???????? Angola
$43
100
???????? Kosovo
$42
101
???????? Mauritania
$42
102
???????? Honduras
$42
103
???????? Egypt
$41
104
???????? Cambodia
$36
105
???????? Myanmar
$35
106
???????? Philippines
$33
107
???????? Mongolia
$33
108
???????? Indonesia
$31
109
???????? Bangladesh
$27
110
???????? Timor Leste
$27
111
???????? Mali
$26
112
???????? Senegal
$24
113
???????? Cote d'Ivoire
$23
114
???????? Togo
$21
115
???????? Kenya
$21
116
???????? Kyrgyzstan
$20
117
???????? Burkina Faso
$20
118
???????? Guinea
$19
119
???????? Lesotho
$19
120
???????? Cape Verde
$19
121
???????? Guatemala
$19
122
???????? Chad
$18
123
???????? South Sudan
$18
124
???????? Sudan
$18
125
???????? Uganda
$18
126
???????? Zimbabwe
$17
127
???????? Zambia
$16
128
???????? Mauritius
$16
129
???????? Cameroon
$16
130
???????? Nepal
$15
131
???????? Nigeria
$14
132
???????? Nicaragua
$12
133
???????? Guinea-Bissau
$12
134
???????? Tanzania
$12
135
???????? Cuba
$11
136
???????? Rwanda
$11
137
???????? Moldova
$11
138
???????? Papua New Guinea
$10
139
???????? Niger
$10
140
???????? Tajikistan
$9
141
???????? Central African Republic
$8
142
???????? Mozambique
$8
143
???????? Ghana
$8
144
???????? Benin
$7
145
???????? Burundi
$7
146
???????? Afghanistan
$6
147
???????? Gambia
$6
148
???????? Ethiopia
$5
149
???????? Venezuela
$5
150
???????? Malawi
$4
151
???????? Sierra Leone
$3
152
???????? Madagascar
$3
153
???????? Dem. Rep. of Congo
$3
154
???????? Liberia
$3
155
???????? Haiti
$2
156
???????? Costa Rica
$0
157
???????? Iceland
$0
158
???????? Panama
$0
Measured this way, we get a perspective of how small defense budgets can be per person, even if the total expenditure is large.
For example, India has the fourth-highest total defense expenditure in 2022, but because of its massive population only sets aside $53 per resident for its military, putting it solidly at the bottom third of the per-capita rankings.
Changing how we look at a country’s military budget can reveal a lot more than just looking at absolute numbers.
For example, the Middle East is the region with the highest spenders on defense as a percentage of their GDP, giving us insight into regional security concerns.
Countries from the medium group of military spending—including parts of Eastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia—highlight past or recent conflict zones between neighbors, countries with internal strife, or countries wary of a regional aggressor. Ukraine’s average per capita military spend, for example, was just $122.4 from 2018 to 2021. The next year, it jumped nearly 10 times to $1,018.66 per person after Russia’s invasion.
In fact, European military spending saw its sharpest one-year jump in 30 years as a direct result of the war.
Alongside European anxieties, ongoing tension between China and Taiwan has also contributed to increased military spending in Asia and Oceania. Will these budgets continue their dramatic ascent or will they rise evenly alongside their relative economies in 2023?