Apr 27, 2020 - World
By the numbers: Military spending around the world
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Global military spending climbed in 2019 for the fifth consecutive year to a new high of $1.9 trillion, or 2.2% of global GDP, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Breaking it down: The U.S. spent nearly three times as much as China and 10 times as much as any other country on Earth.
- While U.S. spending rose 5% last year, it's still down 15% from 2010, when it accounted for 4.9% of GDP (vs. 3.4% now).
- Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia (8%) and Oman (8.8%) spent the most on their militaries as a proportion of GDP, while Mexico (0.5%), Indonesia (0.7%), Switzerland (0.7%) and Japan (0.9%) are on the low end.
- Germany increased military spending by 10% last year, a sign that U.S. pressure on NATO countries to spend more is showing some results.
- India increased spending by 7% last year, and it moved from fifth to third on the list of biggest spenders.
- Sub-Saharan Africa, home to 1 billion people, spent a total of $18 billion in 2019, less than Israel (pop. 9 million) and one-fortieth of the U.S. total.
What to watch: Military budgets contracted sharply following the 2008 financial crisis, and a similar trend is likely due to the economic fallout from the coronavirus.
Note: China's and Saudi Arabia's numbers are an estimate.
