Special Report

What the US Spent on the Military Every Year Since 1970

DanielBendjy / E+ via Getty Images

The United States has engaged militarily in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda, DR Congo, and the Central African Republic since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

These eleven countries are where the U.S. has committed boots on the ground. But this list does not include other U.S. military operations, like the ones in the central African country of Chad, or the proxy war waged in Ukraine with the $40 billion U.S. military and humanitarian package for that country authorized by 86 members of the Senate. (This is how the U.S. is arming Ukraine.)

The number and length of U.S. military engagements seems to be getting longer and more frequent since the U.S. began its ongoing U.S. global war on terror following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. As one of the world’s few superpowers, the U.S. spends hundreds of billions of dollars funding these operations, providing military support to allied governments, purchasing hardware from the private sector, and keeping ahead of China and Russia. The U.S. committed $782 billion to these efforts in 2022, not including the Ukraine package.

To identify what the U.S. spent on the military the year you were born, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the data on U.S. military spending from the World Bank, listing the years 1970-2019. Figures are in current U.S. dollars. We also calculated the percentage change in military spending from the previous year.

U.S. military spending topped $200 billion for the first time in 1982 and, by the end of the 20th century, that sum was well over $300 billion. Then the military budget took off like a Javelin missile after the start of the U.S. global war on terror. (The U.S. is also among the countries spending the most defending their borders.)

Since 2000, year-to-year U.S. military spending decreased only in the last four years of the Obama administration after the end of the Second Gulf War. In 2003, the military budget jumped by 16% compared to the previous year, the highest annual increase since 1982, which was during the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. 

Here is U.S. military spending every year since 1970

Harvey Meston / Getty Images

1970: $83.41 billion
> Increase from previous year: -1.86% — #40 largest Increase on list

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Space Frontiers / Getty Images

1971: $78.24 billion
> Increase from previous year: -6.20% — #48 largest Increase on list

Archive Photos / Getty Images

1972: $80.71 billion
> Increase from previous year: 3.16% — #26 largest Increase on list

Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images

1973: $81.47 billion
> Increase from previous year: 0.94% — #37 largest Increase on list

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Pictorial Parade / Getty Images

1974: $89.28 billion
> Increase from previous year: 9.59% — #12 largest Increase on list

Archive Photos / Getty Images

1975: $92.08 billion
> Increase from previous year: 3.14% — #27 largest Increase on list

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Keystone / Getty Images

1976: $94.72 billion
> Increase from previous year: 2.87% — #29 largest Increase on list

Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images

1977: $104.67 billion
> Increase from previous year: 10.50% — #10 largest Increase on list

Space Frontiers / Getty Images

1978: $113.38 billion
> Increase from previous year: 8.32% — #15 largest Increase on list

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Tony Duffy / Getty Images

1979: $126.88 billion
> Increase from previous year: 11.91% — #7 largest Increase on list

FPG / Getty Images

1980: $143.69 billion
> Increase from previous year: 13.25% — #5 largest Increase on list

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Gene Forte / Getty Images

1981: $176.56 billion
> Increase from previous year: 22.88% — #2 largest Increase on list

Hulton Archive / Getty Images

1982: $221.67 billion
> Increase from previous year: 25.55% — #1 largest Increase on list

Tony Duffy / Getty Images

1983: $223.43 billion
> Increase from previous year: 0.79% — #38 largest Increase on list

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Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images

1984: $245.15 billion
> Increase from previous year: 9.72% — #11 largest Increase on list

Space Frontiers / Getty Images

1985: $272.16 billion
> Increase from previous year: 11.02% — #9 largest Increase on list

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Getty Images / Staff

1986: $295.55 billion
> Increase from previous year: 8.59% — #13 largest Increase on list

Rick Stewart / Getty Images

1987: $304.09 billion
> Increase from previous year: 2.89% — #28 largest Increase on list

Getty Images / Staff

1988: $309.66 billion
> Increase from previous year: 1.83% — #32 largest Increase on list

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Pascal Rondeau / Getty Images

1989: $321.87 billion
> Increase from previous year: 3.94% — #24 largest Increase on list

Space Frontiers / Getty Images

1990: $325.13 billion
> Increase from previous year: 1.01% — #35 largest Increase on list

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Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

1991: $299.37 billion
> Increase from previous year: -7.92% — #50 largest Increase on list

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

1992: $325.03 billion
> Increase from previous year: 8.57% — #14 largest Increase on list

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

1993: $316.72 billion
> Increase from previous year: -2.56% — #42 largest Increase on list

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Phil Cole / Getty Images

1994: $308.08 billion
> Increase from previous year: -2.73% — #44 largest Increase on list

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

1995: $295.85 billion
> Increase from previous year: -3.97% — #46 largest Increase on list

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Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

1996: $287.96 billion
> Increase from previous year: -2.67% — #43 largest Increase on list

Doug Pensinger / Getty Images

1997: $293.17 billion
> Increase from previous year: 1.81% — #33 largest Increase on list

Space Frontiers / Getty Images

1998: $291.00 billion
> Increase from previous year: -0.74% — #39 largest Increase on list

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USAF / Getty Images

1999: $298.09 billion
> Increase from previous year: 2.44% — #30 largest Increase on list

NASA / Getty Images

2000: $320.09 billion
> Increase from previous year: 7.38% — #18 largest Increase on list

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Mark Wilson / Getty Images

2001: $331.81 billion
> Increase from previous year: 3.66% — #25 largest Increase on list

Mark Wilson / Getty Images

2002: $378.46 billion
> Increase from previous year: 14.06% — #4 largest Increase on list

Scott Barbour / Getty Images

2003: $440.53 billion
> Increase from previous year: 16.40% — #3 largest Increase on list

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Chris Jackson / Getty Images

2004: $493.00 billion
> Increase from previous year: 11.91% — #6 largest Increase on list

2005: $533.20 billion
> Increase from previous year: 8.15% — #16 largest Increase on list

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Wathiq Khuzaie / Getty Images

2006: $558.34 billion
> Increase from previous year: 4.71% — #22 largest Increase on list

David Paul Morris / Getty Images

2007: $589.59 billion
> Increase from previous year: 5.60% — #20 largest Increase on list

Spencer Platt / Getty Images

2008: $656.76 billion
> Increase from previous year: 11.39% — #8 largest Increase on list

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Alex Wong / Getty Images

2009: $705.92 billion
> Increase from previous year: 7.49% — #17 largest Increase on list

Chris Graythen / Getty Images

2010: $738.01 billion
> Increase from previous year: 4.55% — #23 largest Increase on list

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Majid Saeedi / Getty Images

2011: $752.29 billion
> Increase from previous year: 1.93% — #31 largest Increase on list

Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images

2012: $725.21 billion
> Increase from previous year: -3.60% — #45 largest Increase on list

Michael Buckner / Getty Images

2013: $679.23 billion
> Increase from previous year: -6.34% — #49 largest Increase on list

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Sean Gallup / Getty Images

2014: $647.79 billion
> Increase from previous year: -4.63% — #47 largest Increase on list

NASA / Getty Images

2015: $633.83 billion
> Increase from previous year: -2.16% — #41 largest Increase on list

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Scott Olson / Getty Images

2016: $639.86 billion
> Increase from previous year: 0.95% — #36 largest Increase on list

NASA / Getty Images

2017: $646.75 billion
> Increase from previous year: 1.08% — #34 largest Increase on list

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

2018: $682.49 billion
> Increase from previous year: 5.53% — #21 largest Increase on list

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Anthony Kwan / Getty Images

2019: $731.75 billion
> Increase from previous year: 7.22% — #19 largest Increase on list

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