Military spending 2023 · World Bank WDI
Annual military spending, shown two ways: as a percentage of GDP, which measures the EFFORT made relative to the country's means, and in billions of dollars, which measures absolute CAPABILITY. The two views rank the world very differently, and confusing them is the leading source of misreading on this subject.
World Bank, World Development Indicators (series MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS and MS.MIL.XPND.CD), year 2023; these figures reproduce SIPRI estimates. The scope includes pay, military pensions, equipment purchases, defence research and paramilitary forces; it excludes civilian internal security. Several states publish no consolidated budget: those values are estimates, and a few countries remain absent for lack of a reliable source.
As a share of GDP, NATO has set a 2% target that serves as a common benchmark; above 5%, one speaks of a war economy. In dollars, the bands run up to 250 billion and above — a band occupied by a single country.
The United States alone spends roughly as much as the next ten countries combined. Comparing budgets in current dollars nevertheless overstates the gap: a soldier and an armoured vehicle do not cost the same everywhere, and purchasing-power-parity estimates markedly tighten the ranking for China and Russia.