In the final year of World War II, the U.S. spent about 38% of its GDP on its military.
When adjusted for inflation, the military budget over those four years of war came to a staggering $4.1 trillion in 2020 dollars.
And as Visual Capitalist's Pallave Rao and Joyce Ma detail below, almost 80 years later, modern day military spending isn’t much of a far cry from World War II budgets.
The top spenders have continued to increase their military capabilities, while war in Ukraine has caused countries in the region to re-evaluate their budgets as well.
In 2022, global military budgets hit an all-time high of $2.2 trillion, according to data released by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the eighth consecutive year of increase. This post looks at the top 40 largest military budgets in the world.
The Largest Military Budgets in 2022
The United States accounts for almost 40% of global military expenditures, with its 2022 spend coming to $877 billion.
Here are the top 40 largest military budgets in the world for 2022 in U.S. dollars:
| Rank | Country | Military Budget (Billions) | % of World Military Spend |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇺🇸 U.S. | $876.9 | 39.0% |
| 2 | 🇨🇳 China | $292.0 | 13.0% |
| 3 | 🇷🇺 Russia | $86.4 | 3.9% |
| 4 | 🇮🇳 India | $81.4 | 3.6% |
| 5 | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | $75.0 | 3.3% |
| 6 | 🇬🇧 UK | $68.5 | 3.1% |
| 7 | 🇩🇪 Germany | $55.8 | 2.5% |
| 8 | 🇫🇷 France | $53.6 | 2.4% |
| 9 | 🇰🇷 South Korea | $46.4 | 2.1% |
| 10 | 🇯🇵 Japan | $46.0 | 2.1% |
| 11 | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | $44.0 | 2.0% |
| 12 | 🇮🇹 Italy | $33.5 | 1.5% |
| 13 | 🇦🇺 Australia | $32.3 | 1.4% |
| 14 | 🇨🇦 Canada | $26.9 | 1.2% |
| 15 | 🇮🇱 Israel | $23.4 | 1.0% |
| 16 | 🇪🇸 Spain | $20.3 | 0.9% |
| 17 | 🇧🇷 Brazil | $20.2 | 0.9% |
| 18 | 🇵🇱 Poland | $16.6 | 0.7% |
| 19 | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | $15.6 | 0.7% |
| 20 | 🇶🇦 Qatar | $15.4 | 0.7% |
| 21 | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | $12.5 | 0.6% |
| 22 | 🇸🇬 Singapore | $11.7 | 0.5% |
| 23 | 🇹🇷 Türkiye | $10.6 | 0.5% |
| 24 | 🇵🇰 Pakistan | $10.3 | 0.5% |
| 25 | 🇨🇴 Colombia | $9.9 | 0.4% |
| 26 | 🇩🇿 Algeria | $9.1 | 0.4% |
| 27 | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | $9.0 | 0.4% |
| 28 | 🇲🇽 Mexico | $8.5 | 0.4% |
| 29 | 🇳🇴 Norway | $8.4 | 0.4% |
| 30 | 🇰🇼 Kuwait | $8.2 | 0.4% |
| 31 | 🇬🇷 Greece | $8.1 | 0.4% |
| 32 | 🇸🇪 Sweden | $7.7 | 0.3% |
| 33 | 🇧🇪 Belgium | $6.9 | 0.3% |
| 34 | 🇮🇷 Iran | $6.8 | 0.3% |
| 35 | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | $6.1 | 0.3% |
| 36 | 🇴🇲 Oman | $5.8 | 0.3% |
| 37 | 🇹🇭 Thailand | $5.7 | 0.3% |
| 38 | 🇨🇱 Chile | $5.6 | 0.2% |
| 39 | 🇩🇰 Denmark | $5.5 | 0.2% |
| 40 | 🇷🇴 Romania | $5.2 | 0.2% |
China, ranked second in absolute terms, accounts for another 13% of world military expenditure at $292 billion.
Russia, India and Saudi Arabia round out the top five biggest military budgets in 2022. Add in the UK to the mix (#6 rank), and these countries all had military expenditures that made up at least 3% of global spend.
Comparatively, the lowest budgets on the top 40 ranged include Romania at $5.2 billion, Denmark at $5.5 billion, and Chile at $5.6 billion. They each account for just 0.2% of the world’s military budgets in 2022, and of course there are many countries with even smaller spends.
Largest Military Budget Increases in 2022
Russia’s position as the third-largest military spender is a recent development, as the country’s military spend had a 9% increase between 2021 and 2022, according to SIPRI estimates.
On the other side of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine was the top 40 military budget with the largest annual increase in 2022, surging nearly six and a half times above its 2021 expenditures.
| Country | % Change (2021-2022) | Rank Change (2021-2022) |
|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇦 Ukraine | 640% | +25 |
| 🇶🇦 Qatar | 27% | +2 |
| 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | 16% | +3 |
| 🇧🇪 Belgium | 13% | 0 |
| 🇳🇱 Netherlands | 12% | 0 |
| 🇸🇪 Sweden | 12% | -1 |
| 🇵🇱 Poland | 11% | 0 |
| 🇷🇺 Russia | 9.2% | +2 |
| 🇩🇰 Denmark | 8.8% | +3 |
| 🇪🇸 Spain | 7.3% | -1 |
| 🇳🇴 Norway | 6.2% | 0 |
| 🇮🇳 India | 6.0% | -1 |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | 5.9% | -1 |
| 🇮🇷 Iran | 4.6% | +5 |
| 🇨🇳 China | 4.2% | 0 |
| 🇬🇧 UK | 3.7% | -2 |
| 🇨🇦 Canada | 3.0% | -1 |
| 🇸🇬 Singapore | 2.8% | +1 |
| 🇩🇪 Germany | 2.3% | 0 |
| 🇮🇩 Indonesia | 1.3% | 0 |
| 🇨🇴 Colombia | 1.1% | -1 |
| 🇺🇸 U.S. | 0.7% | 0 |
| 🇫🇷 France | 0.6% | -2 |
| 🇬🇷 Greece | 0.6% | -1 |
| 🇨🇭 Switzerland | 0.4% | -1 |
| 🇹🇼 Taiwan | 0.4% | -1 |
| 🇦🇺 Australia | 0.3% | -1 |
| 🇵🇰 Pakistan | -2.0% | -3 |
| 🇰🇷 South Korea | -2.5% | +1 |
| 🇷🇴 Romania | -2.6% | +1 |
| 🇴🇲 Oman | -3.0% | +1 |
| 🇩🇿 Algeria | -3.7% | -1 |
| 🇮🇱 Israel | -4.2% | -1 |
| 🇮🇹 Italy | -4.5% | -1 |
| 🇨🇱 Chile | -6.2% | -3 |
| 🇧🇷 Brazil | -7.9% | -1 |
| 🇲🇽 Mexico | -9.7% | 0 |
| 🇰🇼 Kuwait | -11% | -4 |
| 🇹🇭 Thailand | -11% | -5 |
| 🇹🇷 Türkiye | -26% | -6 |
Ukraine’s dramatic increase represents the highest single-year jump ever recorded by SIPRI, painting a vivid before-and-after picture of a nation engaged in conflict.
Although no other country comes close in matching Ukraine’s surge in defense spending, Qatar saw a substantial increase of 27% over the last year, marking a continuing trend over the last decade of significantly bolstering its military.
Additionally, Saudi Arabia, along with four European nations (Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Poland), have registered year-over-year changes of over 10%.
On the flipside, 13 of the nations with the largest military budgets decreased spend from 2021, including top 15 spenders such as South Korea, Italy, and Israel.
The largest drop was seen by Türkiye, with an estimated 26% reduction in military budget. This drop may be linked to Türkiye’s inflation problem, which saw prices rise 72.3% in 2022—effectively decreasing the purchasing power of their currency in relative terms to other nations.
The Specter of War in Europe
With an ongoing conflict in the region and large financial powerhouses, its no surprise that eight of the top 10 countries with the most significant increases in military spending are located in Europe.
Consequently, European military budgets have reached levels not witnessed since the end of the Cold War.
And amid escalating geopolitical concerns, countries in Asia such as India, Japan, and China have also ramped up their defense spending. This is an indication of simmering global flashpoints such as India and China’s border skirmishes, the longstanding South China Sea territorial conflict, and concerns surrounding Taiwan’s sovereignty.
