Against the backdrop of war in Ukraine, conflict in the Middle East and growing tensions between China and the West, global military spending has hit unprecedented levels.

NATO members are at the forefront, with 23 of 32 thought to have met or exceeded the much-vaunted 2% of GDP (gross domestic product) target in 2024. That's compared to just seven who did so in 2022. Even so, with US President Donald Trump calling for the alliance's members to more than double the target to 5%, the spectre of a new global arms race is looming large.

Using 2023 data (the most recent available) from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which has tracked military outlays since 1949, we've ranked 25 major nations in terms of their percentage of GDP spent on defence, from least to most. Read on to discover which countries are spending the most on their military and how their outlay compares.

All dollar amounts in US dollars

South Africa's military spending has been declining in real terms for the past decade. With the nation's economy underperforming, the defence budget fell to just 0.7% of GDP in 2023, well below the global average of 2.3%.

Experts have warned the nation's armed forces are severely overstretched and underfunded. Dean Wingrin, a correspondent for defence news website defenceWeb, has called this “a disaster” for the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), which is engaged in peacekeeping missions in countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as its domestic operations. Incredibly, 85% of the South African Air Force's fleet is out of action, as highlighted by news website The Conversation, while the Navy's warships are in dire need of repair.

Switzerland's military spending as a percentage of GDP has fallen by more than 50% since the collapse of communism over three decades ago, as the neutral country sought to benefit from the post-Cold War peace dividend.

However, with war returning to Europe, Switzerland's downscaled defence expenditure could have dire ramifications. Reports have emerged of a huge military funding black hole, and the Swiss government is seeking to plug it with plans to boost spending by 19% over the next four years. Nonetheless, according to official projections, Switzerland's outlay in terms of GDP will remain below 1% until 2032. As other European nations ramp up their own defence spending, Switzerland is coming under increasing pressure to do the same.

Mexico has pursued a policy of non-intervention called the Estrada Doctrine since 1930. For this reason, the nation tends to avoid overseas conflicts, and its defence spending as a proportion of GDP has been consistently low.

That said, military expenditure has risen by 55% since 2014 according to SIPRI, though the increased outlay has predominantly been a response to the deteriorating security situation within the country itself, rather than conflicts beyond Mexico's borders. For example, allocations to the National Guard, which is tasked with battling the cartels, increased from 0.7% of the nation's defence budget in 2019 to a hefty 11% in 2023. With thousands more soldiers set to be deployed to the border as part of an agreement to halt US tariffs on Mexican imports, this figure is likely to increase further.

Austria's permanent neutrality was set in stone in 1955, when allied troops withdrew from the country and the modern Austrian state was created. Since then, this policy has shaped its very modest defence spending.

Other long-standing neutral countries such as Sweden have now relinquished the status in the face of Russian aggression, but Austria, until recently, has stood firm, even hinting it could drop out of the German-headed European Sky Shield Initiative - a project focused on building a ground-based integrated European air defence system. However, the new government has pledged to remain a part of the scheme and boost defence spending to 2% of GDP.

With tensions building in the Asia-Pacific region, the New Zealand government is considering joining Australia, the UK, and the US in the AUKUS defence pact and taking on more global missions. Yet according to Reuters, the defence budget for the fiscal year ending in June 2025 has been slashed by 6.6% as the nation's economy splutters. This comes as New Zealand's regional partners, including Japan and Australia, have increased their expenditure.

A number of political figures have expressed a desire to increase defence spending to 2% of GDP, but this would entail drastic belt-tightening elsewhere. In the meantime, New Zealand's armed forces need new recruits, while material upgrades are desperately required. Naval craft are out of service due to a lack of personnel, and the New Zealand Air Force's ageing Boeing 757-2K2 military cargo planes reportedly keep breaking down.

Japan allocated $50.2 billion (£40.4bn) to its armed forces in 2023, an 11% increase from 2022 and 31% more than 2014. The government plans to increase spending again by almost 10% and hopes to hit the magic 2% of GDP figure by 2028. 

This record outlay marks a break from Tokyo’s long-standing pacifism. The U-turn has come about as China's increasingly assertive stance towards Taiwan and its claims on the South China Sea ignite tensions in the region. Japan is also concerned about North Korea's nuclear weapons programmes, which has no doubt contributed to the boost in spending. 

The Canadian government has drawn criticism both at home and abroad, for its relatively small defence budget as a proportion of GDP. Last year, its expenditure amounted to $27.2 billion (£21.9bn), just 1.3% of annual output. This makes it one of NATO's most miserly spenders.

Speaking at last July’s NATO summit before his resignation, PM Justin Trudeau revealed the nation would reach the 2% of GDP target by 2032. However, according to Canadian network CTV News, business leaders and stakeholders are sceptical that the target can be met given the pressure that the plan would put on public finances. Trudeau's successor, Mark Carney, has pledged to hit the 2% target by 2030 and spend around $4 billion (£3.2bn) on an early warning missile detection system. 

Spain's defence spend as a share of GDP stood at 1.5% in 2023. But according to NATO estimates, the nation's outlay for 2024 was just 1.28%. This makes it the alliance's least generous contributor in relative terms. US president Donald Trump has taken the nation to task, saying its budget is “very low”. 

Yet even these uninspiring figures represent an increase in military spending in recent years. When the government of Pedro Sánchez came to power in 2018, the proportion of GDP Spain allocated was just 0.93%. And Spain insists it’s now upping its game - though it's resisting US pressure to hike spending even more. According to Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles, the nation is poised to reach the 2% NATO goal in 2029.

Germany devoted 1.5% of its GDP to defence in 2023, equalling Spain's outlay in relative terms. In January, the government announced that it met the 2% target last year – the first time it’s done so since the end of the Cold War. Europe's biggest economy allocated $93.7 billion (£75.3bn) – though not all of it was used.  

Still, Germany's taking the threat from Russia very seriously and the winner of February's election, the CDU's Friedrich Merz, has negotiated a groundbreaking deal that will release billions of euros for the defence budget via an historic relaxation of the country's debt borrowing rules.

After the US, China is the world's second-biggest military spender in absolute terms. Last year, the People's Republic ploughed an estimated $296 billion (£238bn) into defence, according to SIPRI, which would represent 1.7% of the country's GDP. Some observers believe it’s spending significantly more than it reports to the outside world. 

Worryingly for the West and its regional allies, China has dropped the mention of “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan, reflecting its hardening stance towards what it views as a breakaway province. Adding to the concerns, Beijing hiked its defence spending by a hefty 7.2% in 2024. The extra funds will be spent on combat readiness and “preparation for war”, as per The South China Morning Post, a chilling move likely to have significant global implications.

As China flexes its weight in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia is taking no chances with defence. In 2023, a panel of national security experts convened by Australian newspapers The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age warned that war with the People's Republic could come as soon as 2026, with a Chinese invasion of Taiwan a major potential trigger.

The AUKUS member spent some $33.1 billion (£26bn) on defence in 2024, a considerable increase from the previous year that represents a little over 2% of the country's GDP. The country’s Treasury says it expects the budget to reach 2.4% of GDP by 2027–28.

Now let's take a look at the countries spending 2% of GDP or more...

France has achieved the 2% of GDP military expenditure goal set by NATO sooner than expected. In 2023, the EU's second-largest economy spent $61.3 billion (£49.3bn) on defence, which equates to 2.1% of its economy. It's rejected criticism of its budget from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, saying it also plans to double spending by 2030. 

France is one of several countries benefitting from the re-arming trend, according to SIPRI. The country’s overtaken Russia to become the world's second-most important weapons exporter after the US, accounting for 11% of the global market. Perhaps not coincidentally, it’s also a strong advocate of building a pan-European defence entity. 

As tensions with China run high, Taiwan's defence spending increased by 11% in 2023, reaching $16.6 billion (£13.3bn).

Taiwan has been steadily increasing its military spend in recent years. In August, the government proposed a budget equivalent to some $19.6 billion (£15.8bn), which would represent 2.45% of the island’s GDP. Yet according to the Atlantic Council, the outlay is insufficient, and Taiwan needs to increase its expenditure to at least 3% of GDP if it wants to strengthen its military capabilities and send a powerful deterrent message to Beijing. President Trump has gone much further still, saying it should spend an eye-watering 10% of GDP to counter the threat. 

The UK hit the global average military spend of 2.3% of GDP in 2023. SIPRI records its allocated spending for the year as $74.9 billion (£60.2bn). However, critics claim the figure includes military pensions and say the country's armed forces have been hollowed out, with the army at its smallest since the early 19th century. 

Britain's Labour Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has now announced an increase in defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 - three years earlier than previously planned - and said he hopes it will rise to 3% in the next parliament, which is likely to be after 2029. He's aiming to cover the initial budget hike with a reduction in the foreign aid budget. 

In 2023, India was the world's fourth biggest defence spender in absolute terms after the US, China, and Russia. Its outlay of $83.6 billion (£67.2bn) represented 2.4% of the nation's GDP.

India's traditional arch-enemy, Pakistan, has been New Delhi's primary defence concern for decades, but in recent years China has emerged as an even bigger threat amid growing border tensions and competition for influence in the Indian Ocean. According to JP Morgan, New Delhi is responding by hiking military expenditure by 8% this year and next - and it's planning to spend about $200 billion (£158 bn) on modernisation over the next decade. 

Singapore devoted $13.2 billion (£10.6bn) to defence in 2023. The figure equates to 2.7% of the city-state's GDP, an increase from 2.6% in 2022.

As reported by The Straits Times, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen recently announced the nation's military spending will be around 3% of GDP over the next decade, barring any conflicts or wars. In light of the tense global situation, and China's aggression in particular, the minister has judged the threat of global or regional conflicts as “non-zero” – a step up from the previous estimation of “unlikely”.

Pakistan is chiefly preoccupied with its long-simmering conflict with India and fighting the TTP terrorist group, A.K.A. the Pakistani Taliban. Unlike India, Pakistan is an ally of China and has long been considered Beijing's “Iron Brother” in the region.

The nation's military spending in GDP terms increased from 2.6% in 2022 to 2.8% in 2023 – though with the country's finances in dire straits, the monetary outlay actually decreased from $11 billion (£8.5bn) to $8.5 billion (£6.8bn). Pakistan's defence budget for the 2023 to 2024 fiscal year was hiked by 16% as the country's security situation worsened and tensions with India built up. The sharp increase drew the ire of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which had agreed a $3 billion (£2.4bn) bailout with the Pakistani government 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).

Tensions between South Korea and China are building but the real existential threat comes from North Korea. SIPRI hasn't been able to collate data on North Korea's military expenditure, but it's thought to represent a staggering 25% of the country's GDP. Relations with Pyongyang have reached new lows as the reclusive and repressive regime becomes increasingly hostile towards its southern neighbour. As a consequence, Seoul has embarked on a military spending spree.

The South Korean government intends to spend a whopping $263 billion (£211bn) over the next five years to buttress its defence capabilities and upgrade the "Three-Axis" system to counter a North Korean attack with artificial intelligence and other advanced tech.

Colombia is riven with homegrown issues and the nation's military expenditure is mainly concentrated within the country. Although Brazil spends more overall, Colombia has the biggest outlay in South America in terms of GDP, though the figure fell from 3.5% in 2020 to 2.9% in 2023.

According to Global Data, Colombia's military expenditure is increasing again. This is partially motivated by moves to tackle threats from armed militias, despite a six-month truce with the ELN guerilla group last year. Other key concerns include an ongoing border dispute with neighbouring Venezuela.

The United States spends considerably more on defence than any other country. In 2023, it bumped up military expenditure by 2.3%, with the total reaching an astronomical $916 billion (£736bn). This is more than three times higher than global runner-up China and represents a sizeable 3.4% of America's GDP.

Even so, President Donald Trump is pushing other NATO members to increase their contributions to as much as 5% of GDP. He's demanding that European nations take more responsibility for defending their own continent, and this has already led some of them to announce increased budgets. Trump may also cut a deal with Russia to end the war in Ukraine, and it may lead to the country ceding territory to its invader. Trump has expressed a desire to be tougher on other threats including China and Iran.

Poland is NATO's top spender in GDP terms, devoting 3.8% of its annual output. That's well in excess of the 2% goal and closing in on the potential 5% threshold President Trump has suggested. In 2023, the Eastern European nation spent $31.6 billion (£25.4bn) on defence.

The GDP outlay stood at only 2.2% in 2022 when Russia invaded Poland's neighbour Ukraine. Needless to say, Warsaw – which has taken a strong pro-Ukraine stance – is going all out to counter Russian aggression, and Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski (pictured here with Polish PM Donald Tusk) recently told Bloomberg Television that the GDP spend will increase to close to 5% in 2025.

Israel's invasion of Gaza, which was triggered by the Hamas massacre on 7 October 2023, is expected to cost the country around $70 billion (£56.2bn) by the end of this year. It was $28 billion (£22.5bn) in 2024 alone, according to the country’s finance ministry. 

This is a notable increase from 2022 when the number was $23.4 billion (£18.8bn) and the outlay as a proportion of GDP stood at 4.5%. The Hamas war – and to a lesser extent, the conflict with Hezbollah – are putting a lot of pressure on Israel's public finances, with the country's overall budget deficit swelling to 6.9% in 2024 and public debt growing to 69% of GDP. A recent ceasefire with Hamas has since crumbled, meaning spending is only likely to increase.

As its invasion of Ukraine entered a second year, Russia's military spending skyrocketed in 2023, reaching an estimated $109 billion (£87.6bn), which is 5.9% of its GDP. We’re now in the third year and the costs have only grown. 

The nation's defence expenditure is expected to hit $145 billion (£116.5bn) or 6.3% of GDP this year. President Putin has put the Russian economy on a war footing. This military spending is fuelling impressive growth, while friendly nations such as China and India are propping up the country's finances by buying Russian oil and other natural resources. Still, by basing its entire economy on the conflict, Moscow finds itself between a rock and a hard place. Writing for news website The Conversation, economist Renaud Foucart argues it can't afford to lose the war, nor can it afford to win it. Whatever happens, the country's long-term economic prospects aren't looking good.

Saudi Arabia's defence spending increased marginally from $75 billion (£60.2bn) in 2022 to $75.8 billion (£60.9bn) in 2023, but the outlay as a proportion of GDP fell from 7.4% to 7.1%.

In any case, the Kingdom – 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. The affluent Gulf State boosted its defence budget for 2024 by 3.9%, no doubt in response to growing instability in the region. Interestingly, Riyadh is strengthening defence ties with China, which is keen to expand its influence in the region to the detriment of the US.

Ukraine is paying a heavy price for Russia's invasion. In addition to the unimaginable human suffering, the war has been enormously costly from a financial point of view.

In 2023, the embattled nation devoted $64.8 billion (£52.1bn), a massive 36.7% of its GDP, to defend its territory from Putin's forces. And despite bountiful support from Western allies, Ukraine could very well default on its debts. While government creditors such as the UK have agreed to suspend debt repayments to 2027, Ukraine's private creditors – which include US firms BlackRock, Fidelity and PIMCO – haven't extended the deadline as far into the future.

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