On the world stage, cash rules almost everything. The countries with the largest military budgets reign supreme. Historically, the United States has been at the top of the list for a long time but many other countries are making inroads to building up their defense budgets and military forces. (Two Countries That Would Love to Overtake the US Military)

Through the last few years, Russia has devoted more funds towards its military to support its operations in Ukraine. This cash has been put towards paying more troops, buying more helicopters, or the ongoing maintenance needs to keep its forces and assets combat ready.

Other countries like China have seen an uptick in military spending as well, with an explicit focus on improving its naval forces. In fact, China has new aircraft carriers on the way to further project power off its Eastern coast.

Overall, many nations have been building up their military budgets in recent years as global tensions have been escalating. Ongoing conflicts in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, or Africa have highlighted the need for continued funding by nations to keep their forces intact and to not lose any ground. Here, 24/7 Wall St. is taking a closer look at the countries around the world with the largest defense budgets.

To determine the countries with the largest military defense budgets in the world, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed 2025 Military Strength Ranking from Global Firepower, an annually updated defense-related statistics website with information on 145 countries. Global Firepower ranked 145 countries based on their PowerIndex, a composite of over 60 measures in categories such as military might, financials, logistical capability, and geography. The smaller the PowerIndex value the more powerful a nation’s theoretical conventional fighting capability is. We ranked these countries based on their military defense budget. We also included supplemental information regarding purchasing power parity, foreign exchange/gold reserves, external debt, a composition of military assets, as well as the overall military strength score.

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

Why Are We Covering This?

Understanding global military dynamics is incredibly important due to the interconnected nature of international relations and conflicts. As long as civilization has existed, the world has witnessed shifting power balances and alliances which have ultimately shaped the current geopolitical landscape. While key players like the United States, China, and Russia are considered the strongest military powers in the world, there are a number of other nations with their own spheres of influence and strengths that impact global relations from a military perspective.

30. Colombia

• Military defense budget: $10,541,500,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $59,041,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $978,024,000,000
• External debt: $116,779,500,000
• Total military aircraft: 436
• Total military vehicles: 3,460
• Total naval vessels: 233
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.8353 – #46 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for Colombia’s 478,200 total military personnel, which is composed of 293,200 active personnel, 35,000 reserves, and 150,000 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 49.59 million.

29. Indonesia

• Military defense budget: $10,600,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $146,359,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $3,906,000,000,000
• External debt: $440,000,000,000
• Total military aircraft: 459
• Total military vehicles: 20,440
• Total naval vessels: 331
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.2557 – #13 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for Indonesia’s 1,050,000 total military personnel, which is composed of 400,000 active personnel, 400,000 reserves, and 250,000 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 281.56 million.

28. Sweden

• Military defense budget: $13,000,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $60,863,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $676,353,000,000
• External debt: $1,002,448,700,000
• Total military aircraft: 169
• Total military vehicles: 6,795
• Total naval vessels: 308
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.4835 – #27 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for Sweden’s 82,300 total military personnel, which is composed of 24,400 active personnel, 32,900 reserves, and 25,000 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 10.59 million.

27. Morocco

• Military defense budget: $13,400,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $36,328,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $337,480,000,000
• External debt: $45,645,000,000
• Total military aircraft: 260
• Total military vehicles: 7,877
• Total naval vessels: 111
• Military strength score and world rank: 1.1273 – #59 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for Morocco’s 395,800 total military personnel, which is composed of 195,800 active personnel, 150,000 reserves, and 50,000 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 37.39 million.

26. Singapore

• Military defense budget: $15,000,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $359,835,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $754,758,000,000
• External debt: $1,713,410,600,000
• Total military aircraft: 230
• Total military vehicles: 8,998
• Total naval vessels: 50
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.5271 – #29 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for Singapore’s 315,500 total military personnel, which is composed of 51,000 active personnel, 252,500 reserves, and 12,000 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 6.028 million.

25. Iran

• Military defense budget: $15,450,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $120,600,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $1,440,000,000,000
• External debt: $4,134,926,000
• Total military aircraft: 551
• Total military vehicles: 65,825
• Total naval vessels: 107
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.3048 – #16 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for Iran’s 1,180,000 total military personnel, which is composed of 610,000 active personnel, 350,000 reserves, and 220,000 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 88.39 million.

24. Paraguay

• Military defense budget: $17,595,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $9,886,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $108,022,000,000
• External debt: $14,370,000,000
• Total military aircraft: 39
• Total military vehicles: 1,108
• Total naval vessels: 0
• Military strength score and world rank: 1.9044 – #87 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for Paraguay’s 199,150 total military personnel, which is composed of 15,650 active personnel, 168,500 reserves, and 15,000 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 7.523 million.

23. Taiwan

• Military defense budget: $19,740,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $492,635,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $1,257,300,000,000
• External debt: $209,000,000,000
• Total military aircraft: 761
• Total military vehicles: 19,921
• Total naval vessels: 97
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.3988 – #23 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for Taiwan’s 2,580,000 total military personnel, which is composed of 215,000 active personnel, 2,310,000 reserves, and 55,000 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 23.60 million.

22. Spain

• Military defense budget: $23,397,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $103,089,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $2,242,000,000,000
• External debt: $2,572,738,300,000
• Total military aircraft: 461
• Total military vehicles: 17,626
• Total naval vessels: 152
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.3242 – #17 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for Spain’s 226,902 total military personnel, which is composed of 133,282 active personnel, 15,150 reserves, and 78,470 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 47.28 million.

21. Algeria

• Military defense budget: $25,000,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $81,217,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $699,947,000,000
• External debt: $3,335,624,000
• Total military aircraft: 608
• Total military vehicles: 26,000
• Total naval vessels: 110
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.3589 – #20 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for Algeria’s 610,000 total military personnel, which is composed of 325,000 active personnel, 135,000 reserves, and 150,000 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 47.02 million.

20. Switzerland

• Military defense budget: $25,039,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $863,892,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $733,779,000,000
• External debt: $2,200,000,000,000
• Total military aircraft: 146
• Total military vehicles: 6,996
• Total naval vessels: 0
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.7869 – #44 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for Switzerland’s 156,299 total military personnel, which is composed of 101,584 active personnel, 49,715 reserves, and 5,000 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 8.861 million.

19. Brazil

• Military defense budget: $26,157,300,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $355,021,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $4,016,000,000,000
• External debt: $432,224,000,000
• Total military aircraft: 513
• Total military vehicles: 22,464
• Total naval vessels: 64
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.2415 – #11 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for Brazil’s 900,000 total military personnel, which is composed of 360,000 active personnel, 340,000 reserves, and 200,000 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 220.05 million.

18. Netherlands

• Military defense budget: $27,000,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $69,830,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $1,240,000,000,000
• External debt: $4,779,954,300,000
• Total military aircraft: 120
• Total military vehicles: 2,755
• Total naval vessels: 64
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.6412 – #36 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for the Netherlands’ 53,145 total military personnel, which is composed of 41,380 active personnel, 6,765 reserves, and 5,000 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 17.77 million.

17. Israel

• Military defense budget: $30,500,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $204,661,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $471,030,000,000
• External debt: $148,500,000,000
• Total military aircraft: 611
• Total military vehicles: 35,985
• Total naval vessels: 62
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.2661 – #15 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for Israel’s 670,000 total military personnel, which is composed of 170,000 active personnel, 465,000 reserves, and 35,000 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 9.403 million.

16. Italy

• Military defense budget: $30,890,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $247,396,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $3,097,000,000,000
• External debt: $2,750,000,000,000
• Total military aircraft: 729
• Total military vehicles: 73,480
• Total naval vessels: 196
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.2164 – #10 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for Italy’s 289,000 total military personnel, which is composed of 165,500 active personnel, 18,500 reserves, and 105,000 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 60.96 million.

15. Canada

• Military defense budget: $41,000,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $117,551,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $2,238,000,000,000
• External debt: $2,337,375,700,000
• Total military aircraft: 351
• Total military vehicles: 21,704
• Total naval vessels: 73
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.5179 – #28 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for Canada’s 100,500 total military personnel, which is composed of 68,000 active personnel, 27,000 reserves, and 5,500 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 38.79 million.

14. South Korea

• Military defense budget: $46,300,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $420,930,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $2,615,000,000,000
• External debt: $503,519,500,000
• Total military aircraft: 1,592
• Total military vehicles: 58,880
• Total naval vessels: 227
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.1656 – #5 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for South Korea’s 3,820,000 total military personnel, which is composed of 600,000 active personnel, 3,100,000 reserves, and 120,000 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 52.08 million.

13. Turkey

• Military defense budget: $47,000,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $140,858,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $2,936,000,000,000
• External debt: $294,441,000,000
• Total military aircraft: 1,083
• Total military vehicles: 61,173
• Total naval vessels: 182
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.1902 – #9 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for Turkey’s 883,900 total military personnel, which is composed of 355,200 active personnel, 378,700 reserves, and 150,000 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 84.12 million.

12. Poland

• Military defense budget: $48,700,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $193,783,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $1,616,000,000,000
• External debt: $386,947,000,000
• Total military aircraft: 479
• Total military vehicles: 23,138
• Total naval vessels: 62
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.3776 – #22 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for Poland’s 602,100 total military personnel, which is composed of 202,100 active personnel, 350,000 reserves, and 50,000 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 38.75 million.

11. Germany

• Military defense budget: $50,000,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $322,700,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $5,230,000,000,000
• External debt: $6,238,609,300,000
• Total military aircraft: 584
• Total military vehicles: 83,260
• Total naval vessels: 61
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.2601 – #14 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for Germany’s 215,600 total military personnel, which is composed of 181,600 active personnel and 34,000 reserves. It also has a total population of 84.12 million.

10. Ukraine

• Military defense budget: $53,700,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $40,510,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $559,981,000,000
• External debt: $132,000,000,000
• Total military aircraft: 324
• Total military vehicles: 18,920
• Total naval vessels: 89
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.3755 – #21 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for Ukraine’s 2,200,000 total military personnel, which is composed of 900,000 active personnel, 1,200,000 reserves, and 100,000 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 35.66 million.

9. France

• Military defense budget: $55,000,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $240,792,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $3,764,000,000,000
• External debt: $6,992,104,900,000
• Total military aircraft: 976
• Total military vehicles: 110,932
• Total naval vessels: 129
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.1878 – #8 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for France’s 376,000 total military personnel, which is composed of 200,000 active personnel, 26,000 reserves, and 150,000 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 68.37 million.

8. Australia

• Military defense budget: $55,700,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $61,703,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $1,584,000,000,000
• External debt: $3,427,504,300,000
• Total military aircraft: 327
• Total military vehicles: 15,648
• Total naval vessels: 44
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.3298 – #18 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for Australia’s 89,400 total military personnel, which is composed of 57,350 active personnel, 32,050 reserves, and 0 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 26.77 million.

7. Japan

• Military defense budget: $57,000,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $1,295,000,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $5,761,000,000,000
• External debt: $4,679,698,100,000
• Total military aircraft: 1,443
• Total military vehicles: 31,964
• Total naval vessels: 159
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.1839 – #7 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for Japan’s 328,150 total military personnel, which is composed of 247,150 active personnel, 56,000 reserves, and 25,000 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 123.2 million.

6. United Kingdom

• Military defense budget: $71,500,540,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $177,915,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $3,700,000,000,000
• External debt: $9,593,749,000,000
• Total military aircraft: 631
• Total military vehicles: 38,200
• Total naval vessels: 109
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.1785 – #6 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for the United Kingdom’s 1,108,860 total military personnel, which is composed of 184,860 active personnel, 924,000 reserves, and 0 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 68.46 million.

5. Saudi Arabia

• Military defense budget: $74,760,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $457,949,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $1,831,000,000,000
• External debt: $225,610,000,000
• Total military aircraft: 917
• Total military vehicles: 19,040
• Total naval vessels: 32
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.4201 – #25 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for Saudi Arabia’s 407,000 total military personnel, which is composed of 257,000 active personnel and 150,000 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 36.54 million.

4. India

• Military defense budget: $75,000,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $627,793,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $13,104,000,000,000
• External debt: $371,020,500,000
• Total military aircraft: 2,229
• Total military vehicles: 148,594
• Total naval vessels: 293
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.1184 – #4 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for India’s 5,137,550 total military personnel, which is composed of 1,455,550 active personnel, 1,155,000 reserves, and 2,527,000 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 1.409 billion.

3. Russia

• Military defense budget: $126,000,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $597,217,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $5,816,000,000,000
• External debt: $317,650,500,000
• Total military aircraft: 4,292
• Total military vehicles: 131,527
• Total naval vessels: 419
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.0788 – #2 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for Russia’s 3,570,000 total military personnel, which is composed of 1,320,000 active personnel, 2,000,000 reserves, and 250,000 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 140.82 million.

2. China

• Military defense budget: $266,850,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $3,450,000,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $31,227,000,000,000
• External debt: $1,218,458,500,000
• Total military aircraft: 3,309
• Total military vehicles: 144,017
• Total naval vessels: 754
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.0788 – #3 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for China’s 3,170,000 total military personnel, which is composed of 2,035,000 active personnel, 510,000 reserves, and 625,000 paramilitary forces. It also has a total population of 1.415 billion.

1. United States

• Military defense budget: $895,000,000,000
• Foreign exchange and gold reserves: $773,426,000,000
• Purchasing power parity: $24,662,000,000,000
• External debt: $22,303,546,100,000
• Total military aircraft: 13,043
• Total military vehicles: 391,963
• Total naval vessels: 440
• Military strength score and world rank: 0.0744 – #1 out of 145

All of these finances go to pay for the United States’s 2,127,500 total military personnel, which is composed of 1,328,000 active personnel and 799,500 reserves. It also has a total population of 341.96 million.

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