The World's Largest Military Spenders

USA: All figures for the USA are for financial year (1 Oct. of the previous year–30 Sep. of the stated year) rather than calendar year. US military expenditure includes a portion of the total spending of the National Intelligence Programme, which SIPRI has judged to be military-related. US figures between 2022 and 2024 include estimates of military aid to Ukraine. These include financial contributions, training and operational costs, replacement costs for military equipment stocks donated to Ukraine, and payments to procure additional military equipment for the Ukrainian armed forces. However, these estimates do not include the estimated value of military equipment stocks donated to Ukraine.

China: The figures for China have been revised in this edition of the database based on revised estimates for Chinese military expenditure. For more information on the revised estimates please see: Tian, N., and Su, F., 'A New Estimate of China’s Military Expenditure', SIPRI Background Paper, Jan. 2021 <https://www.sipri.org/publications/2021/other-publications/new-estimate-chinas-military-expenditure>.

Russia: For the sources and methods of the military expenditure figures for the USSR and Russia, see Cooper, J., 'The military expenditure of the USSR and the Russian Federation, 1987–97', SIPRI Yearbook 1998: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1998), appendix 6D, pp. 243–59. For more information on Russia's military spending, see: https://www.sipri.org/commentary/topical-backgrounder/2020/russias-military-spending-frequently-asked-questions and https://www.sipri.org/publications/2026/sipri-insights-peace-and-security/budget-fifth-year-war-military-spending-russias-budget-2026.

India: The figures for India include expenditure on the paramilitary forces of the Border Security Force, the Central Reserve Police Force, the Assam Rifles, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and, from 2007, the Sashastra Seema Bal but do not include spending on military nuclear activities.

UK: From 2001, the UK moved from a cash-based accounting system to a resource-based system. The figures for the UK from 2001 are based on the "Net Cash Requirement" figures given in the Annual UK Defence Statistics, which are closest to the old cash definition. The Net Cash Requirement definition differs slightly from the cash definition used up to 2000. The effect on the figures for UK military expenditure is unknown. The estimate for the UK was revised in 2021. For more information on UK spending see: Tian, N., and Béraud-Sudreau, L., 'Reassessing SIPRI’s military expenditure estimate for the United Kingdom', SIPRI Topical Backgrounder, <https://www.sipri.org/commentary/topical-backgrounder/2021/reassessing-sipris-military-expenditure-estimate-united-kingdom>.

Saudi Arabia: The figures for Saudi Arabia are for defence and security, including the Ministry of Interior. Figures for 2016 are actual spending, while previous years are adopted budgets. The figures for Saudi Arabia for 2015 include 20 billion rials of additional spending on military operations in Yemen, no figure was provided for 2016. The Ministry of Finance consistently reports significant overspending on the state budget, but again, the defence & security component of such additional spending is unknown. The figures for Saudi Arabia may not include billions of dollars of military aid.

Ukraine: Figures for Ukraine are for the adopted budget up to 2007. Given the conflict in the east of the country, and resulting substantial additional budgetary allocations during the year, the figures for 2014 onwards should be treated with a level of uncertainty. Spending figures include military pensions, paramilitary and border guards. Between 2022 and 2025, Ukraine received military assistance in the form of financial support and donations of equipment from several countries; however, these are not included in SIPRI’s estimate of Ukraine’s military spending but rather in the donor country's budget.

France: The figures for France from 2006 are calculated with a new methodology due to a change in the French budgetary system and financial law. Military spending includes a supplementary budget of 3.0 b. euros extra allocated to 'defence' in 2015, 1.5 b. euros in 2016 and 162 million euros in 2017. This is added to the original LdF budget. In 2019 the French military spending series was revised to better account for the military activities of the Gendarmerie. The entire French military spending series has been revised back to 1949.

Japan: The figures for Japan include the budgeted amount for the Special Action Committee on Okinawa (SACO) and exclude military pensions.

South Korea: The figures for South Korea before 2009 do not include spending on 3 "special funds" for relocation of military installations, relocation of US bases, and Welfare for Troops.

Italy: Figures include spending on paramilitary forces (i.e. Carabinieri).

Israel: The entire spending series for Israel was revised in 2020. Military spending in Israel is based on data provided by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and Central Bureau of Statistics. It gives actual military spending published every year by the Israeli MOF. In 2025 SIPRI updated the Israeli arms sales data provided by the Central Bureau of Statistics, dating back to 1995.

Poland: The figures for Poland exclude some defence spending in other ministries, additional domestic defence spending such as the Armed Forces Modernization Fund (AFMF) and some additional Defence R&D. Between 2004 and 2016, these additional sums varied between about 240 million and 640 million Zlotys. No AFMF for 2017 and onwards. Poland's 2023 military spending includes funding from the armed forces support fund (AFSF), which accounts for 29% of Poland's total military spending.

Spain: The figures for Spain include spending on pensions, R&D and military intelligence, which are not included either in the main defence budget or figures supplied by NATO.

Indonesia: The figures for Indonesia exclude substantial off-budget funds received by the armed forces from a variety of sources including revenues from military-owned foundations and co-operatives, and the leasing of land from the private sector. The size of these revenues is not known, but the revenues are thought to be small as a percentage of overall military spending.

Colombia: The figures for Colombia in 2002–2007 include special allocations totalling 2.5 billion pesos from a war tax decree of 12 August 2002. Most of these allocations were spent between 200 and 2004.

Pakistan: The figures for Pakistan include paramilitary forces and pensions. Since 2023, the total number of civil armed forces has been referred to as Pakistan Paramilitary.

Kuwait: Kuwait has had multiple changes of financial year. The financial years beginning in 1969 through 1973 are from July to June. The financial year beginning in 1974 is from April 1974 to March 1975 (thus overlapping with the previous financial year). Data is missing for the financial year beginning 1975. From 1976/77 to 1999/2000, the financial year is from July to June. Financial year 2000/2001 is a transitional 9-month period from July 2000 to March 2001. From 2001 onwards, the financial years are from April to March. Kuwait's figure includes national guard or paramilitary forces.

Finland: Finland's military spending includes pensions and paramilitary forces. Estimates for pensions were made for the years 2001–2006. Finland joined the NATO alliance in 2023.

Iran: The figures for Iran include spending on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is defined as a paramilitary force. Figures also include pensions termed as 'Armed Forces Social Security Organization'. The exchange rate used in the conversion of Rials to US$ is based on the NIMA rate launched by the central bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran in April 2018. In 2025 the exchange rate used for converting Rails to US$ is based on the new "agreed rate" set by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran through its ICE exchange platform, replacing the previous NIMA rate.

Czechia: The figures for Czechia do not include military aid to Afghanistan or Iraq. Aid to Afghanistan was 18.7 million koruny in 2004 and 612.6 million koruny in 2007. Aid to Iraq was 1.1 million koruny in 2005.

Philippines: The figures for the Philippines are slightly overstated as they include spending on Veterans Affairs. Up to 2010 these amounted to around 1b. pesos or less, but in 2011 and 2012 this increased to 13.9b. and 8.3b. pesos respectively.

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Chile: Military expenditure is defined as the sum of the budget of the Ministry of Defence (Ministerio de Defensa Nacional), military pensions (Caja de Previsión de la Defensa Nacional), the Strategic Contingency Fund (Fondo de Contingencia Estratégico), and off-budget allocations for arms acquisitions. Following the repeal of the Reserved Copper Law (Ley Reservada del Cobre) in 2019, the latter component is now the Multiyear Fund for Strategic Capabilities (Fondo Plurianual para las Capacidades Estratégicas). Budget figures for the Multiyear Fund first appeared in 2025, but these are considerably lower than the six-year average of past copper law contributions used by SIPRI as a baseline estimate. It is unclear whether additional allocations are made on top of the budgeted amount. SIPRI continues to use the six-year average as an estimate for this component. Figures for pensions, the MoD, and the contingency fund are sourced from the Budget Directorate (Dirección de Presupuestos, DIPRES). Copper law contributions for prior years are sourced from the state copper company's financial statements.

Malaysia: The figures for Malaysia for 2015 do not include 630 million ringgits from the state budget, and 230 million ringgits from the state oil company Petronas, for military and police expenditure in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone. The precise proportions of these sums that are for the armed forces is not known.

Argentina: Data for the most recent year refer to the approved budget of the Ministry of Defence (Ministerio de Defensa), sourced from the National Budget Office (Oficina Nacional de Presupuesto). This includes the National Defence Fund (Fondo Nacional de la Defensa, FONDEF), decentralized agencies, and social security institutions under the MoD. For prior years, SIPRI uses actual (executed) expenditure figures based on a broader definition that may differ from the headline MoD budget line. Figures for FONDEF are based on earlier independent estimates.

Bangladesh: The figures for Bangladesh include figures or estimates for paramilitary forces.

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Ecuador: Ecuador changed its currency from the sucre to the US dollar on 13 March 2000, at a rate of one dollar to 25 000 sucres. The current price figures for each year represent the dollar value of military expenditure at the market exchange rate for that year. For the years 1984–85 another data source from the Central Bank records much higher figures for Ecuador than those given: $278 million and $361 million, respectively. It is possible that these figures reflect major arms purchases made by Ecuador following the war with Peru in 1981. The IMF World Economic Outlook does not provide government expenditure data for Ecuador for 2025; the 2025 figure is therefore taken from the official national budget document.

Serbia: Montenegro seceded from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro on 3 June 2006. The figures up to 2005 are for the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro (known as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia until February 2003) and for 2006 onwards for Serbia alone.

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Peru: The figures for Peru before 1997 are based on data from the Peruvian Ministry of Defence and are suspected to come from different stages of the budget process. The figures for Peru from 2005 onwards now include off-budget financing. This is transfer of gas production revenues from state-owned company CAMISEA for the armed forces of which 75% of the total gas revenue is alloated to the military.

Croatia: The figures for Croatia for 2004–10 include sums allocated from central government expenditure for repayments on a loan for a military radar system. The sums allocated were 160, 431.1, 147.8, 91.4, 53.2, 54.6 and 55.2 million Koruny in 2004–2010 respectively. Payments continued in 2011, but figures are not available, so a figure of 55.2 million Koruny has been included in the figures for 2011 as an estimate. The loan repayments concluded in 2011, according to the Croatian government.

Bahrain: The figures for Bahrain do not include extra budgetary spending on defence procurement, but do include spending on the national guard.

Sri Lanka: The figures for Sri Lanka for 2000 do not fully reflect the special allocation of 28 billion rupees for war-related expenditure. The IMF World Economic Outlook does not provide government expenditure data for Sri Lanka for 2025; the 2025 figure is therefore taken from the official national budget document.

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Luxembourg: The figures for Luxembourg between 2000 and 2008 may not be fully consistent due to the merger of the paramilitary Gendarmerie with the regular police to form the Police Grand-Ducale (PGD) and changing methodologies by NATO as to the proportion of the PGD included in the figures. The figures from 2008 only include defence budget.

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Côte d'Ivoire: Figures for Côte d'Ivoire are for the adopted budget up to 2003. The figure for the latest year is the adopted budget, while 2014–2017 are actual spending figures.

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Guinea: The figures for Guinea might be an underestimate as the IMF reports large extra-budgetary spending for the military.

Honduras: Honduras's military spending includes military pensions. However, in 2023 an estimate for pensions based on the growth of military spending was made because no data for pensions was available.

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Bolivia: The figures for Bolivia include some expenditure for civil defence.

Kyrgyzstan: The figures for Kyrgyzstan are an estimate based on Sipri's assessment of the % share of defence in the country's budget line; Defence, Public Order and Security. The figure also includes an estimate of the country's paramilitary force which is part of Public Order.

El Salvador: Military expenditure is defined as the sum of the budget of the Ministry of Defence (Ramo de la Defensa Nacional) and military pensions (Prestaciones) paid by the Armed Forces Social Security Institute (Instituto de Previsión Social de la Fuerza Armada, IPSFA). The Maritime Port Authority (Autoridad Marítima Portuaria) was previously counted as a separate item but was reintegrated into the MoD in 2023. For the most recent year, figures are initially entered as budget estimates and subsequently revised with actual expenditure data from the Annual Report on State Financial Management (Informe de la Gestión Financiera del Estado) published by the Ministry of Finance through the Fiscal Transparency Portal. For pensions, only benefit payments (prestaciones) are included, not the full IPSFA budget.

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Paraguay: The figures for Paraguay in 2003 are for the modified budget, rather than actual expenditure.

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Guyana: The figures for Guyana for 2000–2021 may not be directly comparable to those from 1988–1995.

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Rwanda: The figures for Rwanda for 1998 are from the official defence budget. According to the IMF there are additional sources of funding for military activities, both within the budget and extra-budgetary. The figures for 2005 and 2006 include allocations for the African Union (AU) peacekeeping missions. Rwanda switched from a January–December to a July–June Fiscal Year from July 2009, in accordance with the East Africa Community guidelines. A bridging 6-month mini-budget was enacted for the first half of 2009. Spending for the latest year is in the form of a budget while previous years are actual expenditures.

Somalia: Somalia reports its national budget in US dollars, although the national currency, the shilling, is still in operation. The figures for Somalia are actuals.

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Montenegro: Montenegro declared its independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro on 3 June 2006 and was accepted as a member of the United Nations on 28 June 2006.

Nicaragua: The figures for Nicaragua include military aid from USA and Taiwan for the years 2002–2009 of 12.5, 16.9, 13.6, 11.1, 7.3, 28.8, 12.2 and 11.6 million gold cordobas, respectively. The data for Nicaragua up to 1981 may not be directly comparable to the data from 1990 onwards.

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South Sudan: South Sudan became independent from Sudan on 9 July 2011. Under the terms of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005, southern Sudan was governed by the autonomous Government of Southern Sudan within the Sudanese state pending a referendum on final status in 2011. Figures for South Sudan prior to 2011 refer to the military spending of the Government of Southern Sudan on the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). South Sudan changed currency upon independence from the Sudanese Pound to a new currency, the South Sudanese Pound, at a rate of 1 for 1. Conversion to the new currency therefore, does not affect the figures. It is unclear if the MOD figure includes pensions. Figures do not include possible off-budget funding from the state oil company. Figures are actuals except for the latest year, which are based on budgets.

Central African Republic: Investment expenditure for 2005 amounted to 775 000 CFA francs.

Liberia: The figures for Liberia are reported in US dollars. While the Liberian dollar still exists as a national currency, the Liberian economy is heavily dollarized, and in particular the Liberian national budget is only reported in US dollars. All figures for Liberia have thus been converted into US dollars.

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Sierra Leone: The figures for Sierra Leone in 1998 and 1999 are not available due to the coup d'etat and subsequent civil war.

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Costa Rica: Costa Rica has no armed forces and thus no military spending.

Iceland: Iceland does not have a standing army/military and thus has no military expenditure.

Panama: The Panamanian defence forces were disbanded in 1990 and replaced by the national guard, consisting of the national police and the air and maritime services. SIPRI does not count this as military spending. Thus, Panama is marked as one of the three countries (the other two being Costa Rica and Iceland) in the SIPRI Military Expenditure Database as having no military expenditure.