Military expenditure as share of GDP 2021, by country
As a share of gross domestic product (GDP), Saudi Arabia spent more on its military than any other country in 2021, followed by Israel and Russia. In this group, Japan used the least money on its armed forces.
Leading military spending countries
In gross terms, the countries with the highest military spending are the United States, China, and India. However, these are countries with large populations, 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 agree to pool two percent of their GDP towards their own militaries, then to aid each other in case of war.
Regional differences
The past decade has seen a small increase in global military spending. Of course, 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. These were offset by decreases in the UK and U.S. While this does not reflect the number of active conflicts, it could signal a shift in martial abilities in the coming years.
Leading military spending countries
In gross terms, the countries with the highest military spending are the United States, China, and India. However, these are countries with large populations, 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 agree to pool two percent of their GDP towards their own militaries, then to aid each other in case of war.
Regional differences
The past decade has seen a small increase in global military spending. Of course, 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. These were offset by decreases in the UK and U.S. While this does not reflect the number of active conflicts, it could signal a shift in martial abilities in the coming years.
