This information is outdated. See this post for the latest in military spending.

Defense Spending In The Billions

The chart above shows the fifteen nations with the greatest annual military spending. The United States, with a budget of $535.9 billion annually, spends more on defense than the next fourteen nations combined. One wonders if all that spending by the United States is really necessary, considering that the U.S. military budget is more than four times that of the next largest spender, China, at $121.9 billion. If America’s NATO allies are included just from the chart above (which is not all of NATO), that adds another $207.2 billion in defense spending. Those countries are the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and Spain.

Defense Spending By GDP

When spending is considered by percent of gross domestic product (GDP), the United States at 4.1% falls to eighth place. Saudi Arabia (10.0%), Russia (9.9%), and Israel (7.3%) take over first, second, and third place respectively.

Table Of Annual Defense Spending By Country

Click ONCE on column headers to sort.

Rank Country $Billion %GDP 1 United States 535.9 4.1 2 China 121.9 4.3 3 Russia 70.0 9.9 4 United Kingdom 55.4 2.4 5 France 54.0 2.6 6 Japan 41.1 0.8 7 Germany 37.8 1.5 8 Italy 30.6 1.8 9 Saudi Arabia 29.5 10.0 10 South Korea 24.6 2.7 11 India 22.4 2.5 12 Australia 17.2 2.4 13 Brazil 16.2 2.6 14 Canada 15.0 1.1 15 Spain 14.4 1.2 16 Turkey 11.6 5.3 17 Israel 11.0 7.3 18 Netherlands 9.9 1.6 19 United Arab Emirates 9.5 3.1 20 Indonesia 8.4 3.0 21 Taiwan 7.7 2.2 22 Greece 7.3 4.3 23 Iran 7.2 2.5 24 Myanmar (Burma) 6.9 2.1 25 Singapore 6.3 4.9 26 Poland 6.2 1.7 27 Ukraine 6.0 1.4 28 Sweden 5.8 1.5 29 Colombia 5.4 3.4 30 Norway 5.0 1.9

Sources