What Percent of GDP do Countries Spend on Their Military?
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- Written By: L. S. Wynn
- Edited By: L. S. Wynn
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2003-2012 Conjecture Corporation
According to the CIA World Factbook, military spending worldwide amounts to a staggering 741 billion dollars annually. This figure represents approximately 1.5% of the world's GDP of $49,000 billion ($49 trillion). The United States has a $277 billion defense budget which accounts for 37% of the world's total.
Comparing military expenditures to a nation's GDP, however, presents a different picture. North Korea, for example, spends an amazing 33.9% of its GDP on their military. Some of the top spenders are listed below. The United States comes in 46th on this list at 3.2%.
| country | % GDP | |
| North Korea | 33.9 |  |
| Saudi Arabia | 13.0 | |
| Ethiopia | 12.6 | |
| Oman | 12.2 | |
| Eritrea | 12.0 | |
| Qatar | 10.0 | |
| Israel | 8.8 | |
| Jordan | 8.6 | |
| Maldives | 8.6 | |
| Afghanistan | 7.7 | |
| Bahrain | 6.7 | |
| Armenia | 6.5 | |
| Macedonia | 6.0 | |
| Syria | 5.9 | |
| Kuwait | 5.5 | |
| Angola | 5.4 | |
| Burundi | 5.3 | |
| New Caledonia | 5.3 | |
| Yemen | 5.2 | |
| Brunei | 5.0 | |
| Greece | 4.9 | |
| Singapore | 4.9 | |
| Lebanon | 4.8 | |
| Swaziland | 4.8 | |
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Amphibious54
Post 2 |
@Glasshouse - It should also be noted that looking at the fiscal year budget for military spending can be deceptive because operational wartime spending is separate from the general Department of Defense (DOD) budget, and is approved by congress as supplementary spending. If you want to count veterans affairs as military spending that is another $120+ billion that is allocated under the Department of Veterans Affairs. Spending on our nation’s nuclear arsenal is also not considered military spending. The U.S. nuclear budget falls under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). According to the Whitehouse, the fiscal year 2011 department of defense base budget is $548.9 billion. There is already a request placed for $159 billion for FY 2011 to cover the current wars. There is also potential for a significant increase in these requests should new conflicts erupt, or fighting get worse. Already only six months into 2010, and there is a pending request to congress for an additional $33 billion for overseas operations. Who knows what will happen if the situations in North Korea, Pakistan, or Iran worsens.
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Glasshouse
Post 1 |
I'm not sure how old this article is, but it is a bit dated. Global military spending topped $1.5 trillion for 2009. Military spending in the United States accounts for somewhere near 45% of global military spending, and the current military budget accounts for a little over 4% of GDP. U.S. expenditures as a percentage of GDP ranks 25th out of all countries surveyed. The CIA keeps a public record of most basic country data online. This information is all public domain. If you want to read a full unbiased report on everything related to international peace and security, you should check out the Stockholm International Peace Research Yearbook (SIPRI) yearbook. The SIPRI report is a little pricey, but it can be found in most major university library collections. |
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