2025 spending · SIPRI estimate
~$335.5bn
current US dollars
International comparison · military expenditure
Military expenditure
Track how major countries’ military spending and military burden changed over time. Long-run scale uses constant 2024 US dollars, while the 2025 ranking uses current US dollars; the two are not spliced. Military expenditure is an input measure, not military capability.
World rank
#2
2025 current-US-dollar basis
Share of world spending
12.1%
2025 current US dollars
Military burden
1.72%
2025 · SIPRI estimate
Long-run real scale · 1993–2025
How real military expenditure changed across major countries
The cohort is fixed to the ten largest spenders in 2025 and uses one SIPRI constant-2024-dollar vintage throughout. The default view highlights the United States, China, Russia, Germany, India and Japan; other countries can be toggled in the legend.
Source: SIPRI Military Expenditure Database ↗ · SIPRI Military Expenditure Database v1.2; US$bn at constant 2024 prices; no interpolation.chinainfigures.com
Military burden · 1993–2025
How much of economic output goes to military expenditure
Military expenditure as a share of GDP answers a burden question, not an absolute-size question. A country can have a high military burden while still spending fewer dollars than a much larger economy.
Source: SIPRI Military Expenditure Database ↗ · Military expenditure as a share of nominal GDP; interpret separately from dollar amounts.chinainfigures.com
Latest cross-section · 2025
Top ten military spenders in 2025
This chart uses current US dollars, suitable for same-year size comparisons. A tilde denotes a SIPRI estimate.
Source: SIPRI Military Expenditure Database ↗ · 2025 current US dollars; SIPRI estimate flags are preserved for source cells including China, Russia, Ukraine and Saudi Arabia.chinainfigures.com
2025 exact values
Ten largest military spenders
| Rank | Country | Spending (US$bn) | Share of GDP | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 954.4 | 3.12% | reported/compiled |
| 2 | China | ~335.5 | 1.72% | SIPRI estimate |
| 3 | Russia | ~190.4 | 7.50% | SIPRI estimate |
| 4 | Germany | 113.6 | 2.27% | reported/compiled |
| 5 | India | 92.1 | 2.30% | reported/compiled |
| 6 | United Kingdom | 89.0 | 2.35% | reported/compiled |
| 7 | Ukraine | ~84.1 | 39.56% | SIPRI estimate |
| 8 | Saudi Arabia | ~83.2 | 6.48% | SIPRI estimate |
| 9 | France | 68.0 | 2.03% | reported/compiled |
| 10 | Japan | 62.2 | 1.41% | reported/compiled |
Long-run checkpoints
Real military expenditure: selected years
Unit: US$bn at constant 2024 prices. Download the page CSV for all 990 observations.
| Year | United States | China | Russia | Germany | India | Japan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 687.8 | ~25.7 | ~41.5 | 55.9 | 22.0 | 34.6 |
| 2000 | 583.1 | ~41.9 | ~23.7 | 48.8 | 32.1 | 36.1 |
| 2010 | 1,061.7 | ~131.5 | ~50.2 | 47.4 | 57.3 | 36.3 |
| 2020 | 943.4 | ~255.9 | 67.2 | 60.4 | 80.2 | 39.3 |
| 2025 | 929.2 | ~335.0 | ~158.2 | 106.7 | 93.3 | 59.5 |
SIPRI estimates and footnotes
An estimate is not a missing value
SIPRI marks its estimates in blue in the workbook. This page preserves those flags in structured data and uses ~ in display text. China is a SIPRI estimate series based on SIPRI’s revised methodology for Chinese military expenditure.
US period boundary
The United States is not calendar-year data
SIPRI states that all US figures are for the federal financial year: 1 October of the previous year through 30 September of the stated year. The page follows SIPRI’s stated year label, while the 99 US observations in the CSV retain the true Oct–Sep period boundaries.
Interpretation boundary
Spending is not military capability
Military expenditure describes financial resources devoted to military activities. It does not directly measure weapon stocks, technological quality, training, logistics or combat effectiveness. Cross-country comparisons are also affected by price systems, exchange rates and coverage differences.
Selected country footnotes
- United States：United States: all figures are for the US financial year (1 Oct of the previous year to 30 Sep of the stated year), not calendar year; SIPRI also applies documented treatment of intelligence spending and military aid to Ukraine.
- China：China: figures are revised SIPRI estimates based on SIPRI's revised methodology for Chinese military expenditure.
- Russia：Russia: SIPRI documents dedicated sources and methods for Russian and Soviet military expenditure.
- India：India: includes specified paramilitary forces but excludes spending on military nuclear activities.
- United Kingdom：United Kingdom: accounting changed in 2001; SIPRI uses Net Cash Requirement figures from 2001 and revised the UK estimate in 2021.
- Ukraine：Ukraine: adopted budgets were used up to 2007; figures from 2014 onward carry conflict-related uncertainty; donated military aid is counted in donor-country expenditure rather than Ukraine's own spending estimate.
- Saudi Arabia：Saudi Arabia: figures cover defence and security including the Ministry of Interior; historical budget/actual coverage varies and some spending may be omitted.
- France：France: methodology changed with the budget system from 2006 and SIPRI revised the full historical series to improve treatment of Gendarmerie military activities.
- Japan：Japan: includes the budgeted amount for the Special Action Committee on Okinawa (SACO) and excludes military pensions.
Downloads and revisions
Use the data and track changes
The page CSV retains years, units, source IDs, verification status and comparability warnings. Each chart also offers its current data as CSV, PNG or SVG.
Page data
Download full CSV
Includes registered formal points, available historical series and scalar derived metrics. UTF-8 encoded for spreadsheets and analysis tools.
Download CSV ↓Data file updated: 8 Aug 2026
Citation
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The title, latest formal data year and source organizations come from existing publication metadata; the access date and current page URL are added when you click.
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Public record
Revision and update timeline
Military expenditure indicator local candidate
Added a SIPRI-based 1993-2025 comparison for the ten largest military spenders in 2025, with 990 formal observations across current US dollars, constant 2024 US dollars and military expenditure as a share of GDP. SIPRI estimate markings and country footnotes are preserved.
Related sources: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) ↗
Sources and definitions registered; automated checks passed
Data downloads and revision timeline added
Added page-level formal-data CSV files, chart-level CSV/PNG/SVG exports and a bilingual revision timeline to all indicator pages.
Sources and definitions registered; automated checks passed