Defense Budget Comparison Tool – Compare the 15 Largest Military Spenders, 2025

WarBrief Live | Tools | Data last updated: October 19, 2026

Global military spending hit a record $2.887 trillion in 2025 – the 11th consecutive year of growth and the highest level ever recorded. But the headline total hides the real story: who is spending, how fast budgets are moving, and how much of each economy the military consumes. This tool compares the 15 largest military spenders side by side, using the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) April 2026 database. Pick any two countries and see their budgets, military burden, and trajectory compared.

The 15 largest military spenders, ranked

How the comparison works

SIPRI defines military expenditure broadly: all current and capital spending on the armed forces and defense ministries, plus paramilitary forces, military space activities, and military research and development. Military aid is recorded in the donor country’s spending, not the recipient’s – which matters for reading the 2025 figures, as explained below. Figures are converted to US dollars at market exchange rates, not purchasing-power parity.

Values shown in brackets (China, Russia, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia) are SIPRI estimates. These governments publish incomplete or non-transparent defense budgets, so SIPRI builds its figures from official documents, budget lines, and independent analysis. The year-on-year change is measured in real terms – inflation-adjusted – so a +24% figure like Germany’s means genuine growth, not price rises. “Share of GDP,” the military burden, measures how much of a country’s economy its military consumes; “share of world spending” measures concentration – the US alone accounts for a third of the planetary total.

The 2025 picture in numbers

World military spending rose 2.9% in real terms to $2.887 trillion in 2025 – the 11th consecutive annual increase, the highest level SIPRI has ever recorded, up 41% over the past decade. The global military burden edged up to 2.5% of world GDP, and average spending per person hit $352, the highest since 1990. The top five spenders – the US, China, Russia, Germany, and India – account for 58% of the total; the top 15 account for 80%.

The United States remains by far the largest spender at $954 billion, but its total fell 7.5% in real terms – not a drawdown but a statistical artifact: Washington passed no supplemental military aid package for Ukraine in 2025, while the 2024 total had been inflated by $62 billion of such aid. Even so, the US outspends China 2.8 to 1, down from 3.2 to 1 in 2024. China, the second-largest spender at an estimated $336 billion, extended its decades-long uninterrupted increase with 7.4% real growth, and now accounts for roughly half of all military spending in Asia and Oceania.

Europe drove 2025’s growth. Germany jumped 24% to $114 billion as rearmament accelerated; Poland rose 23% to $46.8 billion; Italy rose 20%; and Spain recorded the largest percentage increase among the top 15 – up 50% to $40.2 billion. All 32 NATO members met the alliance’s 2%-of-GDP target for the first time in 2025, and in June 2025 the alliance agreed a new target of 5% of GDP to be reached by 2035. European NATO members’ spending surged 14% – their fastest growth since 1953. Russia’s estimated $190 billion, 7.5% of its GDP, reflects a wartime economy: its real-terms spending is now 117% higher than in 2016. Ukraine, spending an estimated $84.1 billion – 40% of its GDP – carries the largest military burden on Earth. Israel (7.8%) and Saudi Arabia (6.5%) round out the highest-burden states.

Reading the metrics

Four numbers tell the story of each budget. Expenditure ($ billions) shows raw scale – the US budget exceeds the next eight spenders combined. Share of GDP shows effort: Japan spends $62 billion but only 1.4% of its economy, while Ukraine spends a comparable absolute sum at 40% of GDP – the difference between a peacetime posture and a nation at war. Share of world spending shows concentration: the top two alone account for 45% of the planetary total. Real change shows direction of travel: Spain’s +50% and Germany’s +24% mark the fastest European buildup in generations, while the US and UK both show small declines from one-off effects.

What this tool cannot tell you

A budget is not a capability. SIPRI converts at market exchange rates, which understates what yuan and ruble spending buys domestically – on a purchasing-power basis the US-China gap would be narrower, though no authoritative PPP military figure exists. How the money is divided between personnel, operations, procurement, and R&D matters enormously: a dollar spent on conscript salaries buys different power than a dollar spent on munitions. Off-budget items, veterans’ benefits (excluded by SIPRI), and opaque procurement deals further distort comparisons.

This is an educational comparison of published expenditure data, not a measure of who would win a war, and nothing on this page is financial or investment advice. For the economic shocks that move defense budgets, see our Oil Price to Fuel Cost Calculator and Oil Price Shock Simulator; for the logistics of moving forces, the Shipping Route Comparison Tool; and for the tanker-war risk priced into every barrel, the Hormuz Shipping Risk Calculator. The October 2026 oil surge past $103 showed how energy revenue and military spending feed each other. Track the wider picture on our conflict zones hub and browse the full tools collection.

Sources

• SIPRI Fact Sheet, April 2026: “Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2025” – global total $2,887B (+2.9% real), top-15 table, military burden figures, NATO and per-capita data.
• SIPRI Military Expenditure Database, April 2026 – replaces all previously published SIPRI military spending data.
• NATO summit, The Hague, June 2025 – agreement on the new 5%-of-GDP defense investment target by 2035; all 32 allies at 2% in 2025.
• UN Secretary-General, “The Security We Need” report, September 2026 – call for rebalancing military spending toward sustainable development.

Frequently asked questions

Which country has the largest defense budget in 2025?
The United States, at $954 billion – about a third of all world military spending, and 2.8 times China’s $336 billion. The top five (US, China, Russia, Germany, India) together account for 58% of the global total.

Why did US military spending fall in 2025?
It is a statistical artifact, not a drawdown. Washington passed no supplemental Ukraine aid package in 2025, while the 2024 figure had been inflated by $62 billion in such aid. SIPRI records military aid in the donor country’s spending.

What share of GDP do countries spend on defense?
The global average is 2.5% of GDP. Ukraine carries the heaviest burden at an estimated 40%, followed by Israel (7.8%), Russia (7.5%), and Saudi Arabia (6.5%). All 32 NATO members met the 2% target for the first time in 2025.

What is NATO’s new defense spending target?
In June 2025 NATO members agreed to raise defense investment to 5% of GDP by 2035, replacing the 2% benchmark agreed in 2014. European NATO members’ spending surged 14% in 2025, the fastest growth since 1953.

Are China’s published defense figures accurate?
SIPRI treats China’s figure as an estimate ($336 billion), shown in brackets, because Beijing’s published budget omits major categories. Conversion at market exchange rates also understates what the spending buys domestically versus a purchasing-power measure.