The United States has the world’s largest military budget by a wide margin, spending over $800 billion in 2021, which accounts for about 38% of global military spending. While the U.S. defense budget is unmatched in dollar terms, measuring military spending as a share of gross domestic product, or GDP, the U.S. does not even rank among the top 10 biggest spenders.
Military spending as a share of GDP is an important measure as it is an indication of the burden military spending places on taxpayers. High military spending as a share of GDP in a given nation indicates the high priority the government places on defense. Here is a look at the country with the largest military.
Using data on 2021 defense spending as a share of GDP from SIPRI, 24/7 Wall St. identified the 25 countries spending the most on war. Among the countries on this list, defense spending as a share of GDP ranges from 2.8% to 7.3%.
Many countries on this list are relatively poor places, with a per capita GDP of less than $10,000. For context, GDP per capita in the U.S. stands at over $63,000. In these places, military budgets are relatively modest in dollar terms, even though they represent a large share of total GDP. (Here is a look at the poorest countries in the world.)
Notably, NATO alliance members agreed in 2006 to a defense spending threshold of at least 2% of GDP or higher. As of 2021, only 10 of the 30 NATO members are meeting that threshold, and of those 10, Greece and the United States are the only two countries to rank on this list.
Click here to see the countries spending the most on war
Click here to read our detailed methodology
25. Tunisia
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 2.83%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $1.3 billion — 19th highest on this list
> GDP per capita $3,522 — 19th highest on list
> Population: 11.8 million — 11th largest on list
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24. Botswana
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 2.86%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $517.8 million — 21st highest on this list
> GDP per capita $6,405 — 12th highest on list
> Population: 2.4 million — 23rd largest on list
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23. Burkina Faso
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 2.89%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $458.3 million — 22nd highest on this list
> GDP per capita $858 — 25th highest on list
> Population: 20.9 million — 10th largest on list
22. Congo, Republic
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 2.91%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $313.1 million — 25th highest on this list
> GDP per capita $1,846 — 22nd highest on list
> Population: 5.5 million — 17th largest on list
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21. Singapore
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 2.98%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $11.1 billion — 7th highest on this list
> GDP per capita $59,798 — 2nd highest on list
> Population: 5.7 million — 16th largest on list
20. Namibia
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 3.00%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $401.9 million — 24th highest on this list
> GDP per capita $4,179 — 17th highest on list
> Population: 2.5 million — 22nd largest on list
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19. Ukraine
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 3.23%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $5.9 billion — 12th highest on this list
> GDP per capita $3,725 — 18th highest on list
> Population: 44.1 million — 6th largest on list
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18. Brunei
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 3.26%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $453.3 million — 23rd highest on this list
> GDP per capita $27,443 — 5th highest on list
> Population: 437,483 million — 25th largest on list
17. Myanmar
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 3.33%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $2.1 billion — 17th highest on this list
> GDP per capita $1,468 — 23rd highest on list
> Population: 54.4 million — 4th largest on list
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16. Colombia
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 3.40%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $10.2 billion — 8th highest on this list
> GDP per capita $5,335 — 13th highest on list
> Population: 50.9 million — 5th largest on list
15. United States
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 3.48%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $800.7 billion — highest on this list
> GDP per capita $63,207 — highest on list
> Population: 331.5 million — largest on list
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14. Bahrain
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 3.56%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $1.4 billion — 18th highest on this list
> GDP per capita $20,410 — 7th highest on list
> Population: 1.7 million — 24th largest on list
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13. Pakistan
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 3.83%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $11.3 billion — 6th highest on this list
> GDP per capita $1,189 — 24th highest on list
> Population: 220.9 million — 2nd largest on list
12. Greece
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 3.87%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $8.1 billion — 11th highest on this list
> GDP per capita $17,647 — 9th highest on list
> Population: 10.7 million — 12th largest on list
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11. Russia
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 4.08%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $65.9 billion — 2nd highest on this list
> GDP per capita $10,127 — 11th highest on list
> Population: 144.1 million — 3rd largest on list
10. Morocco
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 4.18%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $5.4 billion — 14th highest on this list
> GDP per capita $3,059 — 21st highest on list
> Population: 36.9 million — 8th largest on list
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9. Armenia
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 4.44%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $619.4 million — 20th highest on this list
> GDP per capita $4,266 — 15th highest on list
> Population: 3.0 million — 20th largest on list
8. Qatar
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 4.81%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $11.6 billion — 5th highest on this list
> GDP per capita $50,124 — 3rd highest on list
> Population: 2.9 million — 21st largest on list
7. Jordan
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 5.02%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $2.2 billion — 16th highest on this list
> GDP per capita $4,283 — 14th highest on list
> Population: 10.2 million — 13th largest on list
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6. Israel
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 5.17%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $24.3 billion — 4th highest on this list
> GDP per capita $44,178 — 4th highest on list
> Population: 9.2 million — 15th largest on list
5. Azerbaijan
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 5.27%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $2.7 billion — 15th highest on this list
> GDP per capita $4,221 — 16th highest on list
> Population: 10.1 million — 14th largest on list
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4. Algeria
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 5.59%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $9.1 billion — 9th highest on this list
> GDP per capita $3,307 — 20th highest on list
> Population: 43.9 million — 7th largest on list
3. Saudi Arabia
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 6.59%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $55.6 billion — 3rd highest on this list
> GDP per capita $20,110 — 8th highest on list
> Population: 34.8 million — 9th largest on list
2. Kuwait
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 6.69%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $9.0 billion — 10th highest on this list
> GDP per capita $24,812 — 6th highest on list
> Population: 4.3 million — 19th largest on list
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1. Oman
> 2021 military expenditure as a pct. of GDP: 7.34%
> Total 2021 military expenditure: $5.8 billion — 13th highest on this list
> GDP per capita $14,485 — 10th highest on list
> Population: 5.1 million — 18th largest on list
Methodology
To identify the countries spending the most on war, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, or SIPRI. Countries are ranked based on their military spending as a share of GDP in 2021. Data on total military spending in 2021 is also from SIPRI and is expressed in current USD.
Accuracy of military spending figures vary. According to SIPRI, estimates for Algeria and Myanmar are “highly uncertain” and estimates for Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Ukraine are estimates.
We also reviewed supplementary data on 2020 GDP per capita and population estimates from the World Bank.
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