The 50 most expensive militaries in the world, ranked by defense budget

The US has the most expensive military in the world. Tajh Payne/US Navy via Getty Images The International Institute for Strategic Studies compiled data about the world's military budgets. The top militaries spend hundreds of billions of dollars on defense, with the US leading worldwide. President Donald Trump has proposed increasing annual defense spending to $1.5 trillion. Global military budgets in 2025 totaled $2.6 trillion. The US accounted for more than a third of that total. The US has the world's most expensive military , spending nearly $1 trillion on defense. That's over three and a half times China's reported defense budget, the next largest. From spending on nuclear technology to advanced aircraft and warships, the world's top militaries allocate hundreds of billions of dollars each year to stay ahead. In some countries, big-ticket items such as naval assets , technologically advanced aircraft, or missiles account for the bulk of military spending, while others devote large sums to maintaining large conscription-based troop systems. Ultimately, military spending varies by country depending on location and interests, Gian Gentile, a retired US Army colonel and senior historian at RAND, told Business Insider. Some countries prioritize homeland defense while others value overmatch and far-reaching power projection. "The US spends a lot on more sophisticated, extremely precise weapon systems ," he said. A military budget can be measured either as a total amount or as a share of a country's GDP, reflecting the burden on the economy. In 2025, countries spent an average of 2.01% of their GDP on defense. In 2025, NATO allies agreed to a defense investment target pushed by US President Donald Trump, which aims to increase allied nations' spending to 5% of their countries' GDP annually by 2035, with 3.5% of the GDP being allocated towards direct military funding and an additional 1.5% going towards defense-related developments. During wartime, spending as a share of GDP typically rises, which in turn strains the civilian economy, said Mark Cancian, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Ukraine in 2025, for example, devoted over 20% of its GDP to its military, the highest share globally. Spending statistics help paint a picture of defense priorities, but they don't always translate into readiness for conflict. "Readiness is very expensive, and perishable," Cancian said. A country's on-paper investment in its defense systems doesn't always translate directly into military capability , he added. Training and maintenance are often overlooked in analyses of spending on equipment and technologies. A particularly high cost for technologically advanced aircraft , for instance, is maintenance and sustainment. Still, looking at military budgets can reveal how much capital each country relies on to defend itself. Earlier this year, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based think tank, released its Military Balance report, which included data on nearly every country's defense budget based on each's reported 2025 figures. The report includes each country's total budget (in US dollars), per capita figures, and the defense budget as a share of GDP. Some countries, such as North Korea, Libya, Syria, Cuba, and Afghanistan, did not publicly report their defense budgets. These are the 50 countries that spend the most on their military, ranked by the size of their defense budgets. 50. Chile Anadolu/Anadolu via Getty Images Defense budget: $4.24 billion Defense budget per capita: $222 Percentage of GDP: 1.22% 49. Malaysia Faris Hadziq/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Defense budget: $4.87 billion Defense budget per capita: $140 Percentage of GDP: 1.04% 48. Hungary Klaudia Radecka/NurPhoto Defense budget: $5.54 billion Defense budget per capita: $564 Percentage of GDP: 2.24% 47. Thailand Anadolu/Anadolu via Getty Images Defense budget: $5.84 billion Defense budget per capita: $83 Percentage of GDP: 1.05% 46. Iran NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images Defense budget: $6.09 billion Defense budget per capita: $68 Percentage of GDP: 1.71% 45. Austria Joe Klamar / AFP Defense budget: $6.36 billion Defense budget per capita: $693 Percentage of GDP: 1.12% 44. Oman Haitham AL-SHUKAIRI / AFP Defense budget: $6.66 billion Defense budget per capita: $1,677 Percentage of GDP: 6.33% 43. Czech Republic Matej Divizna/Getty Images Defense budget: $7.03 billion Defense budget per capita: $649 Percentage of GDP: 1.83% 42. Philippines Anadolu/Anadolu via Getty Images Defense budget: $7.22 billion Defense budget per capita: $60 Percentage of GDP: 1.46% 41. Morocco FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images Defense budget: $7.547 billion Defense budget per capita: $200 Percentage of GDP: 4.2% 40. Switzerland Marco BERTORELLO / AFP Defense budget: $7.554 billion Defense budget per capita: $846 Percentage of GDP: 0.75% 39. Finland Takimoto Marina/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Defense budget: $7.99 billion Defense budget per capita: $1,440 Percentage of GDP: 2.54% 38. Greece Daniel Yovkov / Hans Lucas via AFP Defense budget: $8.06 billion Defense budget per capita: $773 Percentage of GDP: 2.86% 37. Kuwait YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images Defense budget: $8.19 billion Defense budget per capita: $2,580 Percentage of GDP: 5.2% 36. Colombia Joaquin SARMIENTO / AFP via Getty Images Defense budget: $8.27 billion Defense budget per capita: $166 Percentage of GDP: 1.89% 35. Vietnam NHAC NGUYEN/AFP via Getty Images Defense budget: $8.41 billion Defense budget per capita: $79 Percentage of GDP: 1.74% 34. Romania Alex Nicodim/Anadolu via Getty Images Defense budget: $9.48 billion Defense budget per capita: $527 Percentage of GDP: 2.24% 33. Pakistan Abdul BASIT / AFP via Getty Images Defense budget: $10.02 billion Defense budget per capita: $39 Percentage of GDP: 2.44% 32. Qatar KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images Defense budget: $10.11 billion Defense budget per capita: $3,935 Percentage of GDP: 4.55% 31. Mexico Victoria Razo / AFP Defense budget: $11.36 billion Defense budget per capita: $86 Percentage of GDP: 0.61% 30. Denmark Florent VERGNES / AFP via Getty Images Defense budget: $12.18 billion Defense budget per capita: $2,013 Percentage of GDP: 2.65% 29. Iraq Zaid AL-OBEIDI / AFP Defense budget: $12.68 billion Defense budget per capita: $295 Percentage of GDP: 4.78% 28. Belgium JULIEN WARNAND / BELGA MAG / Belga / AFP via Getty Images Defense budget: $13.9 billion Defense budget per capita: $1,161 Percentage of GDP: 1.94% 27. Indonesia BAY ISMOYO / AFP Defense budget: $15.08 billion Defense budget per capita: $53 Percentage of GDP: 1.04% 26. Norway Yauhen Yerchak/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Defense budget: $16.44 billion Defense budget per capita: $2,966 Percentage of GDP: 3.18% 25. Sweden Leon Neal/Getty Images Defense budget: $17.06 billion Defense budget per capita: $1,602 Percentage of GDP: 2.58% 24. Singapore ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images Defense budget: $17.99 billion Defense budget per capita: $2,958 Percentage of GDP: 3.13% 23. Taiwan I-Hwa Cheng / AFP Defense budget: $21.2 billion Defense budget per capita: $898 Percentage of GDP: 2.4% 22. Turkey Anadolu/Anadolu via Getty Images Defense budget: $21.48 billion Defense budget per capita: $254 Percentage of GDP: 1.37% 21. United Arab Emirates VCG/VCG via Getty Images Defense budget: $21.68 billion Defense budget per capita: $2,148 Percentage of GDP: 3.81% 20. Brazil Anadolu/Anadolu via Getty Images Defense budget: $24.27 billion Defense budget per capita: $110 Percentage of GDP: 1.08% 19. Algeria NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images Defense budget: $25.21 billion Defense budget per capita: $528 Percentage of GDP: 8.75% 18. Spain picture alliance/dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images Defense budget: $28.91 billion Defense budget per capita: $611 Percentage of GDP: 1.53% 17. The Netherlands Remko de Waal / ANP / AFP Defense budget: $29.12 billion Defense budget per capita: $1,633 Percentage of GDP: 2.2% 16. Canada Artur Widak/NurPhoto Defense budget: $31.21 billion Defense budget per capita: $797 Percentage of GDP: 1.37% 15. Poland Aleksander Kalka/NurPhoto Defense budget: $33.18 billion Defense budget per capita: $865 Percentage of GDP: 3.19% 14. Australia Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images Defense budget: $37.28 billion Defense budget per capita: $1,378 Percentage of GDP: 2.04% 13. Israel Elke Scholiers/Getty Images Defense budget: $39.68 billion Defense budget per capita: $4,153 Percentage of GDP: 6.5% 12. Italy Antonio Masiello/Getty Images Defense budget: $40.09 billion Defense budget per capita: $658 Percentage of GDP: 1.58% 11. South Korea Kim Jae-Hwan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Defense budget: $43.84 billion Defense budget per capita: $851 Percentage of GDP: 2.36% 10. Ukraine Tetiana DZHAFAROVA / AFP Defense budget: $44.45 billion Defense budget per capita: $1,217 Percentage of GDP: 21.19% 9. Japan JIJI Press / AFP Defense budget: $58.91 billion Defense budget per capita: $480 Percentage of GDP: 1.38% 8. France Philippe Magoni / POOL / AFP Defense budget: $70 billion Defense budget per capita: $1,022 Percentage of GDP: 2.08% 7. Saudi Arabia BANDAR ALDANDANI/AFP via Getty Images Defense budget: $72.53 billion Defense budget per capita: $1,951 Percentage of GDP: 5.72% 6. India Roslan RAHMAN / AFP Defense budget: $78.31 billion Defense budget per capita: $55 Percentage of GDP: 1.9% 5. United Kingdom Owen Humphreys - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images Defense budget: $94.26 billion Defense budget per capita: $1,371 Percentage of GDP: 2.38% 4. Germany Michaela Stache / AFP Defense budget: $107.31 billion Defense budget per capita: $1,277 Percentage of GDP: 2.14% 3. Russia VCG/VCG via Getty Images Defense budget: $161.18 billion Defense budget per capita: $1,150 Percentage of GDP: 6.34% 2. China Greg Baker / AFP Defense budget: $251.29 billion Defense budget per capita: $178 Percentage of GDP: 1.3% 1. United States Mario Tama/Getty Images Defense budget: $921.02 billion Defense budget per capita: $2,725 Percentage of GDP: 3.01% Editor's note: This story was originally published in February 2026 and most recently updated in July 2026. Read the original article on Business Insider