Military spending has increased dramatically around the world in view of rising tensions in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia and the Pacific. So who’s spending the highest percentage of their GDP on the military . . . and who’s lagging behind? The answers point to simmering conflicts that might not be on your radar . . . but should. We’ve drawn our data from the latest data provided by the CIA World Factbook

25. United States

• Military Spending % GDP: 3.4 (2024)
• Although U.S. defense spending as a percentage of GDP is relatively small, the size of the U.S. economy means that this percentage is larger than the 8 next largest military budgets combined. This makes the U.S. the world’s only true superpower, embroiled in conflicts around the globe: 

• • The major rivals of the United States are Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and to a lesser extent, Venezuela and Cuba.
  • The U.S. has been coordinating with NATO allies to support Ukraine and is assembling a coalition of Asia/Pacific allies to deter Chinese and North Korean aggression against Taiwan and South Korea.
  • It supports Israel in its conflict with Palestinians and Arab neighbors, while supporting Arab countries against Iran.
  • Finally, the Trump administration may open a new conflict zone in North America with threats to seize the Panama Canal and Greenland from friendly countries and even to annex U.S. ally Canada against its will, bringing war to the U.S. mainland for the first time in 213 years. 

24. Djibouti

• Military Spending % GDP: 3.5 (2019)
• Djibouti is strategically located at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, a major shipping route between Europe and Asia. It borders Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia, all countries that are unstable and embroiled in internal conflicts. Djibouti makes a significant amount of money leasing naval bases to China, the United States, and various European powers. 

23. Burundi

• Military Spending % GDP: 3.7 (2023)
• Burundi and neighboring Rwanda have had severe civil conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes. The Democratic Republic of the Congo next door is also unstable. 

22. Myanmar

• Military Spending % GDP: 3.9% (2023)
• Myanmar is under military rule and is ostracized by the West for civil rights abuses. Its military spending is mainly directed toward controlling its fractured internal ethnic groups and political opposition. 

21. United Arab Emirates

• Military Spending % GDP: 4 (2023)
• The UAE is a wealthy country that spends heavily on its military to protect itself from aggressive Iran just across the Persian Gulf and to keep its ruling dynasty in power against any possible internal dissent. 

20. Qatar

• Military Spending % GDP: 4 (2023)
• Like the UAE, Qatar wants to protect itself from Iran across the Persian Gulf and internal dissent. It hosts a major American military base, which substantially enhances security.

19. Ukraine

• Military Spending % GDP: 4 (2021)
• Ukraine has been fighting a Russian invasion that dramatically heated up in 2022. Russia controls about 20% of Ukraine’s territory, but with Western military and financial aid, the Ukrainians have been able to fight them to a standstill. Ukraine is currently resisting efforts by the American administration to get them to accept a peace deal that does not provide NATO membership, which would likely be the only way to secure a permanent peace for them rather than just giving Russia the opportunity to regroup and attack again in the future. 

18. Mali

• Military Spending % GDP: 4 (2023)
• Mali, along with neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso, are under military rule and are considered pariahs from neighboring countries and France, the main power in the region. Mali has brought in Russian military advisors to replace French power. 

17. Burkina Faso

• Military Spending % GDP: 4 (2023)
• Burkina Faso, like Mali, is under military rule and has accepted Russian military advisors since early 2024. 

16. Morocco

• Military Spending % GDP: 4 (2023)
• Morocco was the first country to recognize the independence of the United States in the 1700s and has been a friend ever since. It maintains high military preparedness to keep its moderate monarchy in power, maintain control over Western Sahara, which it has occupied, and to keep vigilance against Algeria, its regional rival. 

15. Poland

• Military Spending % GDP: 4.1 (2024)
• Poland has dramatically increased military spending and is moving toward becoming one of the strongest military powers in Europe. This is due to its concern about possible Russian invasion, in light of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, its neighboring Kaliningrad oblast on the Baltic Sea, and its control of Poland’s neighbor Belarus as a puppet regime. 

14. Cuba

• Military Spending % GDP: 4.2 (2020)
• Cuba has been at odds with the United States since 1959 when communists under the leadership of Fidel Castro took over the country. The U.S. has engaged in covert operations and an economic embargo for decades but after the Cuban Missile Crisis, the risks of direct military intervention were seen as too high. Cuba has kept its military preparations high not only for national security but to try to export communism to other countries in the Caribbean and Africa.

13. Israel

• Military Spending % GDP: 4.5 (2023)
• Israel has peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan and has normalized relations with several other Arab countries. With U.S. military and technological assistance, it has the most advanced and powerful military forces in the region. It also has a nuclear arsenal estimated by intelligence analysts at up to 100 warheads. Israel maintains highly trained and equipped forces that it uses to control the Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza and to degrade the capabilities of terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. Israel considers Iran and its developing nuclear program to be its greatest security threat. 

12. Azerbaijan

• Military Spending % GDP: 4.5 (2023)
• Azerbaijan has tense relations and territorial disputes with neighboring Armenia but maintains good relations with neighboring Iran and Russia.

11. Jordan

• Military Spending % GDP: 4.5 (2023)
• Jordan maintains healthy military spending to prevent internal dissent and Islamic extremism. It neighbors heavily-armed Israel but has a peace treaty with them to guarantee its security and is closely tied to the United States, which operates an air base in Jordanian territory. 

10. Kuwait

• Military Spending % GDP: 5 (2023)
• Kuwait maintains strong military readiness in view of its experience being invaded by Iraq in 1990. Iran now has substantial influence in Iraq and is considered a threat as well. The United States maintains a troop level of about 13,500 there for regional security. 

9. Russia

• Military Spending % GDP: 5 (2023)
• Russia has a substantial commitment to modernizing their armed forces, including their nuclear arsenal, investments in advanced weapons systems such as hypersonic missiles, cyberwarfare capabilities, and an expanding presence in the Arctic. But of course their main focus is on prosecuting their war in Ukraine to retain control of the 20% of Ukrainian territory they have captured. 

8. Venezuela

• Military Spending % GDP: 5.2 (2019)
• Venezuela is under a socialist government that has mismanaged the economy so that its people endure both political oppression and high inflation. The combination has caused about 7.7 million Venezuelans (25% of the population) to flee abroad. During his first administration, President Trump inquired with his advisors about the possibility of invading Venezuela, underscoring the tension in the relationship. 

7. Armenia

• Military Spending % GDP: 5.3 (2024)
• Armenia, formerly a Soviet republic, has a tense and violent history with Turkey and Azerbaijan but is in talks with both to reduce tensions and has begun reducing the Russian troop presence it hosts. 

6. Oman

• Military Spending % GDP: 5.5 (2023)
• Oman is strategically located near the entrance of the Persian Gulf and also has oil wealth to spend on its priorities. It maintains military readiness due to threats from Iran and the civil war in neighboring Yemen. 

5. Somalia

• Military Spending % GDP: 6 (2021)
• Somalia is unstable, with civil conflict ongoing with internal dissenting groups. It also has trouble controlling pirates who operate from its coastal territory on the Indian Ocean. 

4. Syria

• Military Spending % GDP: 6.5 (2019)
• In 2024 Syria finally overthrew its dictator, Bashir Assad, and is in the process of winding down its civil war. It hosts a Russian naval base with about 2,000 soldiers. Iran uses Syria as a transit point for arms and personnel it sends to Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon. Israel occupies Syrian territory in the Golan Heights and conducts military strikes from time to time to degrade the capabilities of Hezbollah. 

3. Saudi Arabia

• Military Spending % GDP: 7 (2023)
• Saudi Arabia is concerned about internal security to keep its royal family securely in charge against any possible dissent. It needs high security for the approximately 2 million people who go on pilgrimage to Mecca annually. And most of all, it is concerned about the regional ambitions of its aggressive rival, Iran. 

2. Algeria

• Military Spending % GDP: 9 (2023)
• Algeria has had a longstanding rivalry with neighboring Morocco, particularly over Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara. It severed diplomatic ties with Morocco in 2021. It also has concerns about extremism and terrorism spilling over from its unstable neighbors Libya, Mali, and Niger. 

1. Eritrea

• Military Spending % GDP: 10 (2019)
• Eritrea fought a decades-long war for independence from Ethiopia and finally got independence in 1993. It is now a heavily militarized dictatorship that continues to get involved in its neighbor’s affairs, most recently intervening in the civil war in the region of Tigray that finally ended in 2022. 

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