Defence budgets skyrocketed in 2023, with global military expenditure soaring by 6.8% to hit a record high of $2.44 trillion (£1.9tn). And no wonder. Amid major conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, together with the threat of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, we're living in dangerous times.
The rise in military spending is “unprecedented”, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The organisation closely monitors military expenditure and calculates each nation's outlay as a share of its GDP, the so-called defence burden, which indicates how much of a priority defence is to a country.
With much of the world on a war footing, read on to discover the 30 nations spending the most on military defence in relation to GDP.
All dollar amounts in US dollars.
Out of the nations covered by the SIPRI tracker, Haiti spends the least on defence in GDP terms, devoting just 0.1% of its economic output – clearly with disastrous consequences given the breakdown of law and order in the country.
Among the other extremely modest military spenders in relation to GDP is Ireland, which has long cherished its neutral status, as well as the island nation of Mauritius, which has no armed forces to speak of. Their respective defence expenditure as a share of GDP was just 0.2% last year.
The average global military spend in relation to GDP stood at 2.3% in 2023. The UK is bang on this figure with an outlay of $74.9 billion (£59.9bn) in 2023. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently announced plans to ramp up defence expenditure to 2.5% of GDP, and Labour leader Keir Starmer has said he'd do the same if elected PM “as soon as resources allow”. Other countries that match the global average include Latvia and Ecuador.
By way of comparison, South Africa's defence outlay in GDP terms was 0.7% ($2.8bn/£2.2bn) last year, Austria's was 0.8% ($4.4bn/£3.5bn), New Zealand's equated to 1.2% ($3bn/£2.4bn), Canada's totalled 1.3% ($2.7bn/£2.2bn) and Germany's came in at 1.5% ($66.8bn/£53.4bn).
Despite a total estimated spend of $296 billion (£236bn), China's expenditure as a share of GDP was surprisingly low at 1.7%.
Elsewhere, Australia devoted 1.9% ($32.3bn/£25.8bn) of its output, France spent 2.1% ($61.3bn/£48.9bn), and Taiwan 2.2% ($16.6bn/£13.3bn), which seems modest given the threat of a Chinese invasion. India's spend was a little more generous than the global average at 2.4% ($83.6bn/£66.8bn), while Singapore's was quite a way above at 2.7% ($13.2bn/£10.5bn).
Now, let's look at the 30 biggest spenders, GDP-wise...
A nuclear power, Pakistan is chiefly preoccupied with its long-simmering conflict with India and fighting the TTP terrorist group, aka the Pakistani Taliban. The nation's military spending in GDP terms increased 0.2 percentage points to 2.8% in 2023, though with the country's finances in dire straits, the monetary outlay decreased from $11 billion (£8.7bn) to $8.5 billion (£6.7bn).
That said, the defence budget for the 2023 to 2024 fiscal year has been hiked by 16% as the country's security situation worsens and tensions with India build. The sharp increase has drawn the ire of the IMF, which agreed a $3 billion (£2.4bn) bailout with the Pakistani government last year to rescue the nation's ailing economy.
South Korea's military spending as a proportion of GDP increased from 2.7% to 2.8% in 2023, with the monetary outlay up $1.5 billion (£1.2bn).
Relations with nuclear-armed North Korea have plumbed new lows and with the Kim regime becoming increasingly belligerent – it recently unveiled a “super-large warhead” – the South Korean government has embarked on a military shopping spree. It intends to spend a whopping $262.8 billion (£208bn) over the next five years to bolster its defence capabilities. The nation also has plans to upgrade its "Three-Axis" system to counter a North Korean attack with artificial intelligence and other advanced tech.
One of the world's poorest countries, Chad is currently run by a military junta led by Mahamat Déby, the son of the nation's long-time leader Idriss Déby, who was killed in 2021 during a military offensive against rebels in the country's north. Mahamat Déby staged a bloodless coup shortly after his father's death.
Needless to say, spending on the armed forces is relatively substantial. Since seizing power, Mahamat Déby has been able to prevent a civil war and orchestrate a peace deal with the rebels. But the country has plenty of security threats on its plate, including incursions by Nigeria-based Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram and spillover from Sudan's ongoing civil war.
Colombia's military spending increased from $9.9 billion (£7.8bn) in 2022 to $10.7 billion (£8.5bn) last year, meaning the outlay as a proportion of GDP rose from 2.8% to 2.9%.
According to GlobalData, Colombia's security situation has deteriorated over the past couple of years, with threats from armed militias, border disputes, and terrorism escalating. It predicts Colombia's annual military spending will soar to $18 billion (£14.2bn) by 2029 as the country's government grapples with these heightened risks.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has triggered a surge in military spending. Western countries are stepping up to assist Ukraine in its time of need and respond to the threat of an increasingly aggressive Russia.
As a result, the Baltic State of Estonia has massively ramped up defence spending and is currently Ukraine's most generous donor in GDP terms. According to the latest update of the Kiel Support Tracker, which monitors aid to Ukraine, Estonia has devoted over 1.6% of its GDP to help the war-torn nation.
In stark contrast to Estonia, the Serbian government is maintaining a neutral stance towards the war in Ukraine and has refrained from supplying the country with military aid, officially at least. Serbia's substantial military spending, which represented 2.9% of its GDP in 2023, is more about tensions in the Balkans.
Serbia has been involved in something of an arms race with NATO member Croatia since 2015, while tensions with Kosovo have recently flared up. The Serbian government has reacted by beefing up its military. In January, Serbia's president announced its “biggest investment so far” in military equipment after the US revealed it would sell Kosovo $75 million (£59m) worth of Javelin anti-tank missiles.
In Brunei's backyard, China is becoming increasingly aggressive as it eyes Taiwan and the South China Sea, which it claims as its own.
The South China Sea dispute, which also involves Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam, is Brunei's number one security concern, as identified by a 2021 Defence White Paper from the county's government. Since then, the oil-rich kingdom, which boasts one of the world's largest militaries per capita, has upped its military spending. The defence budget for the 2024 to 2025 fiscal year has increased by 28.5%, smashing all previous records.
In terms of military expenditure, the Middle East was the fastest-growing region last year, with spending up 9% to $200 billion (£158bn).
Mounting instability in the region is fuelling the bonanza. In 2023, Bahrain's military outlay climbed to $1.4 billion (£1.1bn), which is 3.1% of its GDP. Bahrain is the only Gulf State taking part in the US-led Red Sea task force countering attacks on shipping by Yemeni Houthi rebels, and the country recently closed a $2 billion (£1.6bn) deal with the US for advanced battle tanks, along with other defence hardware.
Greece's military expenditure has long been on the extravagant side in relation to its economy. While spending fell from 4% of GDP in 2022 to 3.2% in 2023, it remains significantly higher than the global average.
Animosity between Greece and neighbouring Türkiye, which spent $15.8 billion (£12.5bn) on its military last year, is the main driver of Athens' open-handed defence spending, despite the fact that both nations are members of NATO. Greece, which has devoted 0.27% of its GDP to assisting Ukraine, is in the process of modernising its military equipment and is seeking to put in a bumper order with the US for 20 F-35 fighter jets.
The world's biggest defence spender in monetary terms by a huge margin, America bumped up its military expenditure by 2.3% last year, with the total reaching an astronomical $916 billion (£725bn), which is 3.4% of the nation's GDP.
The figure is down from 3.5% in 2022 and 4% in 2013, while the latest defence budget proposal is only 1% higher than the previous year due to a funding cap. There's a strong likelihood it will be raised given the precarious situation the world is in, with the continuing need to assist Ukraine with its fight against Russia – the US has provided 0.3% of its GDP to date – the war in Gaza and aggression from the likes of Iran and China highest on the list of America's defence priorities.
Kyrgyzstan has been busily rearming over the past few years. The Central Asian republic, which at one time planned to get rid of its armed forces, has been bolstering its military significantly since 2021 when relations with neighbouring Tajikistan hit rock-bottom following deadly border clashes between the two nations.
The Kyrgyz Republic spent $465 million (£368m) on defence in 2023, up from $352 million (£279m) the previous year. Prior to the 2021 clashes, the annual spend was around $130 million (£103m).
Morocco has several serious defence concerns to contend with. They include growing enmity with Algeria, which broke off bilateral relations in 2021; conflict with the Polisario Front, a rebel organisation fighting to gain independence for Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara; and Islamist terrorism, which it keeps in check with stringent anti-terrorism measures.
Managing these risks doesn't come cheap and the country spent $5.2 billion (£4.1bn), the equivalent of 3.6% of its GDP, on defence last year, compared to just under $5 billion (£4bn) in 2022.
The poorest country in the top 30, Burundi can ill afford to spend lavishly on its military but does so nonetheless. Last year, the hard-up African nation ploughed $147 million (£116m), a sizeable 3.7% of its GDP, into defence. The budget mushroomed almost 46% from 2022 when it stood at $101 million (£80m).
Still, Burundi's government has good reason to boost the budget. Rebel groups abound in the country and in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where Burundian troops have been battling the M23 group. The DRC is also the base of a guerrilla outfit called RED-Tabara, which has carried out a series of terrorist attacks in Burundi of late in a bid to overthrow the government.
Staying in Africa, Mali spent a record $785 million (£621m) on defence in 2023, up from $582 million (£461m) the previous year. This is an increase of almost 35%.
The Malian government has been battling an insurgency led by a Tuareg separatist group for over a decade and last year, terrorist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) stepped up attacks in the country. Having rejected military assistance from France and the UN, Mali's military junta has put its faith in Russian Wagner mercenaries, who are being paid $10.8 million (£8.6m) a month for their services.
Myanmar's military spending increased only marginally in 2023 to reach $2.5 billion (£2bn), which is 3.8% of the country's GDP.
Myanmar has been in the grip of a military junta for the past three years. The regime hasn't held back when it comes to defence spending, not least because it has been fighting several insurgencies, including a conflict with the armed Karen National Union. The separatist group recently captured the strategically important Myawaddy crossing at the Thai border for a short time before it was retaken by soldiers loyal to the junta.
Burkina Faso, which is also headed by a military junta, has been marred by extreme violence since 2019, with 40% of the country under the control of armed Islamist rebel groups.
The military government, which took power in 2022, has become increasingly desperate in its fight against the jihadists, which include the Islamic State of Western Sahara and Ansarul Islam, and is even resorting to arming civilians to fend off their attacks. Consequently, military spending has increased markedly, from $563 million (£446m) in 2022 to $826 (£654m) million last year, equating to 4% of the country's GDP.
Bucking the trend worldwide, Togo is one of only a handful of countries that significantly reduced military spending as a percentage of GDP in 2023. The African nation's outlay last year represented 4% of its GDP, down from 5.4% in 2022 when defence expenditure totalled $337 million (£267m).
The budget has, however, been ramped up for 2024 as Togo's military fights jihadist groups operating in the north of the country. These groups perpetrated a number of deadly attacks in 2023 and present an ongoing threat to the security of the population and the stability of the nation.
At the sharp end of the war in Ukraine, Poland has become a defence “colossus” over the past couple of years, according to the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). Last year, the nation's defence spend represented 3.8% of its GDP, up from 2.2% in 2022.
The EU country has emerged as one of Ukraine's most open-handed donors, and to date, it's devoted 0.9% of its GDP. On top of assisting Ukraine in its moment of need, Poland is shoring up its defences to deter a potential Russian invasion. Plans include doubling land forces to 300,000 and stocking up on the latest weaponry produced by the US, UK, South Korea, and other allies.
Azerbaijan's military spending has been at an elevated level since 2020 when it fought a war with neighbouring Armenia over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Azerbaijan won the war, but tensions with Armenia have remained high, and Azerbaijan launched military action last September to regain the rest of the territory. The country's military budget increased strikingly in 2023, up from just under $3 billion (£2.4bn) to $3.6 billion (£2.9bn) year-on-year, which is a weighty 4.6% of its GDP.
Jordan has been steadily increasing its military spending since 2013. Last year, the total outlay was $2.5 billion (£2bn), representing 4.9% of the country's GDP. The figure was up from $2.3 billion (£1.8bn) in 2022 and just under $2.2 billion (£1.7bn) the previous year.
Jordan is grappling with Iran-backed Shia militants based in southern Syria, as well as a drug smuggling crisis on its borders. Together with the war in Gaza, which has destabilised the entire region, this has prompted additional military spending. The defence budget for 2024 is believed to be in the region of $2.9 billion (£2.3bn).
Kuwait's defence expenditure moderated last year to $7.8% billion (£6.2bn) from $8.2 billion (£6.5bn) in 2022, but the outlay as a percentage of GDP increased from 4.7% to 4.9% as the economy spluttered due to lower oil prices and muted production of the fossil fuel.
With the country's budget deficit on the increase, Kuwait has had to rein in military spending. But its defence expenditure remains exceedingly high in relative terms and the Gulf State has one of the best-funded militaries in the region.
Israel's invasion of Gaza, which was triggered by Hamas' attack on 7 October, is expected to cost the country around $55 billion (£43.5bn) through 2025, according to the Bank of Israel.
The expense of the conflict is already evident in the nuclear power's military spend figure for 2023, which amounted to $27.5 billion (£21.8bn), equating to 5.3% of the nation's GDP. This is a notable increase from 2022, when the number was $23.4 billion (£18.5bn), and the outlay as a proportion of GDP stood at 4.5%.
Oman's military spending peaked in 2012 and in 2020, it spent more on its military in terms of GDP share than any other country when the figure touched 11%.
Last year, the number had fallen to 5.4% as the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and lower oil prices sapped budgets. But the Gulf State is planning an uptick in spending as it seeks to modernise its battle tanks and infantry fleets, and keep up with other countries in the region.
Armenia's defence spending almost doubled last year from $795 million (£629m) to $1.3 billion (£1bn) as its conflict with neighbouring Azerbaijan intensified. As we've mentioned, Azerbaijan launched an offensive in September to regain the rest of Nagorno-Karabakh and managed to retake the territory.
Efforts are afoot to foster peace between the two nations and the Armenian government has even agreed to hand over several additional villages claimed by its arch-enemy. Yet many Armenians fear a new and even more devastating war with Azerbaijan. Given the circumstances, neither country is likely to cut its military spending any time soon.
Russia's military spending jumped by 24% in 2023 to hit an eye-watering $109.5 billion (£86.7bn), as the costs of its invasion of Ukraine multiplied.
In February, the Pentagon revealed the conflict has cost Russia up to $211 billion (£168bn), as well as $1.3 trillion (£1tn) in lost economic growth through 2026. Despite Western sanctions, the Putin regime has been able to maintain its high levels of spending courtesy of exports of its oil and gas to friendly countries like China. And this year, Moscow's military budget is poised to increase further, topping an estimated $140 billion (£118.8bn), which would represent 35% of total government spending.
Last year, South Sudan's military spending shot up by a staggering 106% to surpass a billion US dollars.
The security situation in the African country is troubling, with the upswing in expenditure precipitated by “escalating internal violence and the security challenges that have spilt over from the civil war in neighbouring Sudan", according to SIPRI.
Saudi Arabia's defence spending increased marginally from $75 billion (£60bn) in 2022 to $75.8 billion (£60.1bn) last year, but the outlay as a proportion of GDP fell from 7.4% to 7.1%.
Be that as it may, Saudi Arabia, which is leading an intervention in the Yemen War, was the Middle East's top arms purchaser and the region's biggest military spender overall in 2023. Going forward, the Gulf State has boosted its defence budget for 2024 by 3.9%, no doubt in response to growing instability in the region.
At loggerheads with neighbouring Morocco, Algeria – which is supporting the Polisario Front battling Morocco in Western Sahara – ramped up its military spending last year.
The North African country's total outlay soared by over 99% to reach a record $18.3 billion (£14.5bn), with the spend as a proportion of GDP almost doubling from 4.8% to 8.2%. As noted by SIPRI, the spending hike was primarily due to a sharp rise in revenue from gas exports to European countries as they moved away from Russian supplies.
Lebanon's military expenditure increased by 10% in 2023 to reach $241 million (£191m), but the figure is a fraction of the nation's typical annual outlay in the late 2010s, which was around $2.5 billion (£2bn).
The fact the current relatively low figure makes up 8.9% of the nation's GDP is more about the poor state of the Lebanese economy than any concerted effort to escalate military spending. All the same, the country's armed forces are having to deal with the conflict between terrorist group Hezbollah and Israel, after tensions on Lebanon's southern border were sparked by the war in Gaza.
On another note, North Korea isn't covered by SIPRI, but according to state media, its military spend represents 15.9% of its GDP, which would place the country second in the world in this respect.
On top of the unimaginable human suffering, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been enormously costly to the country from a financial point of view.
Ukraine spent $64.8 billion (£51.3bn) defending its territory last year, up from $44 billion (£35.1bn) in 2022, with the expenditure in terms of GDP rising from 25.9% to 36.7%. These are both major jumps from 2021 when Ukraine allocated just 3.4% of its GDP to its military.
According to the Kiel Institute's Ukraine Support Tracker, the nation received military, humanitarian, and direct financial aid worth $99 billion (£79bn) between the start of the war and February this year. That puts the total cost of the crisis at over $160 billion (£130bn), and counting...
Now discover the countries that have offered Ukraine the most financial support