This Is the Ungodly Amount America Spends on Its Military Each Year

By Chris Lange Published Sep 23, 12:10PM EDT

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This Is the Ungodly Amount America Spends on Its Military Each Year — © gopixa / iStock via Getty Images

The United States, China, and Russia rank as some of the strongest militaries in the world and a large part of this is because they spend the most on their respective militaries. It’s no secret that how much countries spend on their militaries corresponds to their standing on the world stage. Here, 24/7 Wall St. is taking a closer look at which countries spend the most on their militaries. (See how the U.S. military budget has skyrocketed over the years.)

To identify the countries with the biggest defense budgets, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 2024 Military Strength Ranking from Global Firepower, an annually updated defense-related statistics website with information on 145 countries. Countries were ordered according to their defense budgets. We included supplemental information regarding total personnel, total population, aircraft, and vehicles, as well as each country’s overall military strength score.

Here is a look at the countries with the largest defense budgets:

Why Are We Covering This?

Understanding the defense budgets for different countries provides context for their military capabilities. Outfitting troops with the newest technology costs money, but it also acts as a force multiplier. So, there is a balance that must be struck by countries with limited budgets on what they can afford to get the most bang for their buck.

25. Mexico

Defense budget: $14.82 billion
Total population: 129,875,529
Total military personnel: 630,655
Total military aircraft: 462
Total military vehicles: 17,601
Total naval vessels: 194
Military strength score: 0.4274 – #31 out of 145

24. United Arab Emirates

Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightening II by Robert Sullivan

Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightening II (Public Domain) by Robert Sullivan

Defense budget: $15.50 billion
Total population: 9,973,449
Total military personnel: 207,000
Total military aircraft: 560
Total military vehicles: 12,253
Total naval vessels: 79
Military strength score: 0.8083 – #51 out of 145

23. Taiwan

Defense budget: $19.10 billion
Total population: 23,588,613
Total military personnel: 2,580,000
Total military aircraft: 750
Total military vehicles: 19,868
Total naval vessels: 93
Military strength score: 0.3302 – #24 out of 145

22. Algeria

Defense budget: $21.60 billion
Total population: 44,758,398
Total military personnel: 610,000
Total military aircraft: 605
Total military vehicles: 35,990
Total naval vessels: 213
Military strength score: 0.3589 – #26 out of 145

21. Spain

Defense budget: $22.00 billion
Total population: 47,222,613
Total military personnel: 226,902
Total military aircraft: 513
Total military vehicles: 15,046
Total naval vessels: 168
Military strength score: 0.2882 – #20 out of 145

20. Venezuela

Defense budget: $24.12 billion
Total population: 30,518,260
Total military personnel: 337,000
Total military aircraft: 242
Total military vehicles: 14,966
Total naval vessels: 32
Military strength score: 0.9447 – #57 out of 145

19. Israel

Defense budget: $24.40 billion
Total population: 9,043,387
Total military personnel: 670,000
Total military aircraft: 612
Total military vehicles: 43,407
Total naval vessels: 67
Military strength score: 0.2596 – #17 out of 145

18. Brazil

Defense budget: $24.75 billion
Total population: 218,689,757
Total military personnel: 900,000
Total military aircraft: 628
Total military vehicles: 44,044
Total naval vessels: 134
Military strength score: 0.1944 – #12 out of 145

17. Indonesia

Taruna akmil (CC BY-SA 4.0) by AWG97

Defense budget: $25.00 billion
Total population: 279,476,346
Total military personnel: 1,050,000
Total military aircraft: 474
Total military vehicles: 11,604
Total naval vessels: 333
Military strength score: 0.2251 – #13 out of 145

16. Canada

Defense budget: $26.50 billion
Total population: 38,516,736
Total military personnel: 100,500
Total military aircraft: 375
Total military vehicles: 18,054
Total naval vessels: 67
Military strength score: 0.3813 – #27 out of 145

15. Italy

Defense budget: $31.60 billion
Total population: 61,021,855
Total military personnel: 289,000
Total military aircraft: 800
Total military vehicles: 61,892
Total naval vessels: 309
Military strength score: 0.1863 – #10 out of 145

14. Poland

Defense budget: $38.36 billion
Total population: 37,991,766
Total military personnel: 602,100
Total military aircraft: 468
Total military vehicles: 13,956
Total naval vessels: 45
Military strength score: 0.2917 – #21 out of 145

13. Turkey

Defense budget: $40.00 billion
Total population: 83,593,483
Total military personnel: 883,900
Total military aircraft: 1,069
Total military vehicles: 55,104
Total naval vessels: 186
Military strength score: 0.1697 – #8 out of 145

12. Ukraine

Ukraine+military | On Day of Defenders of Ukraine President presents orders of Gold Star, Cross of Combat Merit awards, awards military units with honorary titles.

Defense budget: $42.00 billion
Total population: 43,306,477
Total military personnel: 2,200,000
Total military aircraft: 321
Total military vehicles: 22,110
Total naval vessels: 104
Military strength score: 0.2598 – #18 out of 145

11. South Korea

Flag of South Korea on soldiers arm. Flag of South Korea on military uniforms (collage). by Bumble Dee

Flag of South Korea on soldiers arm. Flag of South Korea on military uniforms (collage). (Shutterstock.com) by Bumble Dee

Defense budget: $44.70 billion
Total population: 51,966,948
Total military personnel: 3,820,000
Total military aircraft: 1,576
Total military vehicles: 66,492
Total naval vessels: 200
Military strength score: 0.1416 – #5 out of 145

10. France

Defense budget: $49.73 billion
Total population: 68,521,974
Total military personnel: 376,000
Total military aircraft: 972
Total military vehicles: 85,023
Total naval vessels: 128
Military strength score: 0.1878 – #11 out of 145

9. Australia

170408-A-TW998-009 by West Point - The U.S. Military Academy

170408-A-TW998-009 (Public Domain) by West Point - The U.S. Military Academy

Defense budget: $52.56 billion
Total population: 26,461,166
Total military personnel: 89,400
Total military aircraft: 325
Total military vehicles: 16,162
Total naval vessels: 43
Military strength score: 0.2515 – #16 out of 145

8. Japan

Defense budget: $53.00 billion
Total population: 123,719,238
Total military personnel: 328,150
Total military aircraft: 1,459
Total military vehicles: 37,662
Total naval vessels: 155
Military strength score: 0.1601 – #7 out of 145

7. Germany

Defense budget: $55.94 billion
Total population: 84,220,184
Total military personnel: 215,600
Total military aircraft: 618
Total military vehicles: 79,317
Total naval vessels: 64
Military strength score: 0.2847 – #19 out of 145

6. United Kingdom

Defense budget: $62.82 billion
Total population: 68,138,484
Total military personnel: 1,108,860
Total military aircraft: 664
Total military vehicles: 27,203
Total naval vessels: 117
Military strength score: 0.1443 – #6 out of 145

5. Saudi Arabia

Defense budget: $71.72 billion
Total population: 35,959,806
Total military personnel: 407,000
Total military aircraft: 914
Total military vehicles: 20,694
Total naval vessels: 57
Military strength score: 0.3235 – #23 out of 145

4. India

Defense budget: $74.00 billion
Total population: 1,399,179,585
Total military personnel: 5,137,550
Total military aircraft: 2,296
Total military vehicles: 151,248
Total naval vessels: 294
Military strength score: 0.1023 – #4 out of 145

3. Russia

Defense budget: $109.00 billion
Total population: 141,698,923
Total military personnel: 3,570,000
Total military aircraft: 4,255
Total military vehicles: 161,382
Total naval vessels: 781
Military strength score: 0.0702 – #2 out of 145

2. China

Defense budget: $227.00 billion
Total population: 1,413,142,846
Total military personnel: 3,170,000
Total military aircraft: 3,304
Total military vehicles: 174,300
Total naval vessels: 730
Military strength score: 0.0706 – #3 out of 145

1. United States

Defense budget: $831.78 billion
Total population: 339,665,118
Total military personnel: 2,127,500
Total military aircraft: 13,209
Total military vehicles: 360,069
Total naval vessels: 472
Military strength score: 0.0699 – #1 out of 145

About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.