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🎖️ Military share of government spending by country
Which country spends the most on its military?
The largest military share of government spending in the world: 1. Ukraine (54%), 2. Belarus (50.7%), 3. Myanmar (29.1%).
The middle of the table sits at 5.4% (Congo, no. 74 of 147), which is the figure to measure the top against.
The top 10
- 🇺🇦Ukraine 54%
- 🇧🇾Belarus 50.7%
- 🇲🇲Myanmar 29.1%
- 🇶🇦Qatar 26.9%
- 🇸🇦Saudi Arabia 22.3%
- 🇸🇴Somalia 21.6%
- 🇩🇿Algeria 21.4%
- 🇴🇲Oman 20.1%
- 🇸🇬Singapore 20.1%
- 🇮🇱Israel 20%
Which country spends the least on its military?
The smallest military share of government spending in this table, from the very last row upwards: Mauritius (0.5%), then Ireland (1%) and Malta (1.3%).
The same ranking, as a map
The full ranking of all 147 countries
| # | Country | Defence budget |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇺🇦Ukraine | 54% |
| 2 | 🇧🇾Belarus | 50.7% |
| 3 | 🇲🇲Myanmar | 29.1% |
| 4 | 🇶🇦Qatar | 26.9% |
| 5 | 🇸🇦Saudi Arabia | 22.3% |
| 6 | 🇸🇴Somalia | 21.6% |
| 7 | 🇩🇿Algeria | 21.4% |
| 8 | 🇴🇲Oman | 20.1% |
| 9 | 🇸🇬Singapore | 20.1% |
| 10 | 🇮🇱Israel | 20% |
| 11 | 🇷🇺Russia | 18.9% |
| 12 | 🇦🇲Armenia | 18.3% |
| 13 | 🇹🇩Chad | 17.2% |
| 14 | 🇧🇫Burkina Faso | 17% |
| 15 | 🇲🇱Mali | 16.6% |
| 16 | 🇦🇿Azerbaijan | 15.2% |
| 17 | 🇯🇴Jordan | 14.4% |
| 18 | 🇨🇫Central African Republic | 14.1% |
| 19 | 🇵🇰Pakistan | 13.8% |
| 20 | 🇳🇪Niger | 13.8% |
| 21 | 🇬🇳Guinea | 12.8% |
| 22 | 🇮🇷Iran | 12.6% |
| 23 | 🇧🇮Burundi | 12.5% |
| 24 | 🇧🇳Brunei | 12.1% |
| 25 | 🇰🇷South Korea | 11.3% |
| 26 | 🇺🇿Uzbekistan | 11.1% |
| 27 | 🇲🇦Morocco | 10.7% |
| 28 | 🇦🇫Afghanistan | 10.3% |
| 29 | 🇧🇭Bahrain | 10.2% |
| 30 | 🇨🇴Colombia | 10.1% |
| 31 | 🇺🇬Uganda | 10.1% |
| 32 | 🇰🇼Kuwait | 9.7% |
| 33 | 🇲🇷Mauritania | 9.6% |
| 34 | 🇸🇩Sudan | 9.5% |
| 35 | 🇺🇸United States | 9.1% |
| 36 | 🇱🇧Lebanon | 8.9% |
| 37 | 🇻🇳Vietnam | 8.8% |
| 38 | 🇰🇭Cambodia | 8.8% |
| 39 | 🇵🇱Poland | 8.5% |
| 40 | 🇰🇬Kyrgyzstan | 8.4% |
| 41 | 🇹🇬Togo | 8.4% |
| 42 | 🇸🇸South Sudan | 8.2% |
| 43 | 🇧🇼Botswana | 8% |
| 44 | 🇱🇹Lithuania | 7.9% |
| 45 | 🇮🇳India | 7.6% |
| 46 | 🇪🇪Estonia | 7.5% |
| 47 | 🇱🇻Latvia | 7.5% |
| 48 | 🇹🇳Tunisia | 7.3% |
| 49 | 🇱🇰Sri Lanka | 7.3% |
| 50 | 🇨🇩DR Congo | 7.1% |
| 51 | 🇳🇦Namibia | 7.1% |
| 52 | 🇪🇹Ethiopia | 6.9% |
| 53 | 🇧🇩Bangladesh | 6.9% |
| 54 | 🇺🇾Uruguay | 6.8% |
| 55 | 🇦🇱Albania | 6.6% |
| 56 | 🇬🇷Greece | 6.6% |
| 57 | 🇬🇦Gabon | 6.6% |
| 58 | 🇹🇯Tajikistan | 6.2% |
| 59 | 🇲🇿Mozambique | 6.1% |
| 60 | 🇨🇲Cameroon | 6.1% |
| 61 | 🇹🇿Tanzania | 6.1% |
| 62 | 🇬🇪Georgia | 6.1% |
| 63 | 🇷🇸Serbia | 6.1% |
| 64 | 🇷🇴Romania | 5.8% |
| 65 | 🇨🇱Chile | 5.8% |
| 66 | 🇭🇳Honduras | 5.8% |
| 67 | 🇬🇼Guinea-Bissau | 5.8% |
| 68 | 🇲🇰North Macedonia | 5.6% |
| 69 | 🇧🇬Bulgaria | 5.5% |
| 70 | 🇪🇨Ecuador | 5.5% |
| 71 | 🇱🇾Libya | 5.5% |
| 72 | 🇵🇭Philippines | 5.4% |
| 73 | 🇸🇳Senegal | 5.4% |
| 74 | 🇨🇬Congo | 5.4% |
| 75 | 🇬🇧United Kingdom | 5.3% |
| 76 | 🇨🇳China | 5.1% |
| 77 | 🇩🇰Denmark | 5.1% |
| 78 | 🇦🇺Australia | 5% |
| 79 | 🇦🇴Angola | 4.9% |
| 80 | 🇮🇶Iraq | 4.9% |
| 81 | 🇿🇲Zambia | 4.8% |
| 82 | 🇬🇶Equatorial Guinea | 4.7% |
| 83 | 🇮🇩Indonesia | 4.6% |
| 84 | 🇹🇭Thailand | 4.5% |
| 85 | 🇳🇴Norway | 4.5% |
| 86 | 🇲🇾Malaysia | 4.5% |
| 87 | 🇵🇾Paraguay | 4.5% |
| 88 | 🇭🇺Hungary | 4.4% |
| 89 | 🇰🇪Kenya | 4.4% |
| 90 | 🇳🇱Netherlands | 4.3% |
| 91 | 🇨🇿Czechia | 4.3% |
| 92 | 🇸🇰Slovakia | 4.3% |
| 93 | 🇫🇯Fiji | 4.3% |
| 94 | 🇲🇬Madagascar | 4.2% |
| 95 | 🇷🇼Rwanda | 4.2% |
| 96 | 🇨🇾Cyprus | 4.2% |
| 97 | 🇲🇪Montenegro | 4.2% |
| 98 | 🇸🇪Sweden | 4.1% |
| 99 | 🇳🇵Nepal | 4.1% |
| 100 | 🇯🇲Jamaica | 4.1% |
| 101 | 🇵🇪Peru | 4.1% |
| 102 | 🇫🇮Finland | 4.1% |
| 103 | 🇩🇴Dominican Republic | 4% |
| 104 | 🇩🇪Germany | 3.9% |
| 105 | 🇸🇻El Salvador | 3.8% |
| 106 | 🇧🇯Benin | 3.8% |
| 107 | 🇧🇿Belize | 3.8% |
| 108 | 🇭🇷Croatia | 3.8% |
| 109 | 🇧🇴Bolivia | 3.7% |
| 110 | 🇬🇾Guyana | 3.7% |
| 111 | 🇨🇮Ivory Coast | 3.7% |
| 112 | 🇫🇷France | 3.6% |
| 113 | 🇵🇹Portugal | 3.6% |
| 114 | 🇲🇼Malawi | 3.5% |
| 115 | 🇯🇵Japan | 3.3% |
| 116 | 🇱🇷Liberia | 3.2% |
| 117 | 🇪🇸Spain | 3.2% |
| 118 | 🇮🇹Italy | 3.2% |
| 119 | 🇨🇦Canada | 3.1% |
| 120 | 🇳🇬Nigeria | 3.1% |
| 121 | 🇲🇽Mexico | 3% |
| 122 | 🇪🇬Egypt | 2.9% |
| 123 | 🇳🇿New Zealand | 2.8% |
| 124 | 🇸🇮Slovenia | 2.7% |
| 125 | 🇬🇹Guatemala | 2.7% |
| 126 | 🇱🇸Lesotho | 2.5% |
| 127 | 🇬🇲Gambia | 2.5% |
| 128 | 🇧🇪Belgium | 2.4% |
| 129 | 🇨🇭Switzerland | 2.3% |
| 130 | 🇿🇦South Africa | 2.1% |
| 131 | 🇧🇷Brazil | 2.1% |
| 132 | 🇨🇻Cape Verde | 2% |
| 133 | 🇲🇳Mongolia | 2% |
| 134 | 🇱🇺Luxembourg | 2% |
| 135 | 🇰🇿Kazakhstan | 1.9% |
| 136 | 🇦🇷Argentina | 1.9% |
| 137 | 🇳🇮Nicaragua | 1.9% |
| 138 | 🇦🇹Austria | 1.9% |
| 139 | 🇬🇭Ghana | 1.8% |
| 140 | 🇧🇦Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1.7% |
| 141 | 🇭🇹Haiti | 1.6% |
| 142 | 🇲🇩Moldova | 1.6% |
| 143 | 🇿🇼Zimbabwe | 1.3% |
| 144 | 🇵🇬Papua New Guinea | 1.3% |
| 145 | 🇲🇹Malta | 1.3% |
| 146 | 🇮🇪Ireland | 1% |
| 147 | 🇲🇺Mauritius | 0.5% |
What this table covers
This table ranks the 147 countries that have a military share of government spending figure in World Bank's data (2018–2024). Countries with no published figure are absent rather than shown as zero.
Frequently asked questions
Which country spends the most on its military?
The largest military share of government spending in the world: 1. Ukraine (54%), 2. Belarus (50.7%), 3. Myanmar (29.1%).
Which country spends the least on its military?
The smallest military share of government spending in this table, from the very last row upwards: Mauritius (0.5%), then Ireland (1%) and Malta (1.3%).
Is this a share of GDP or of the budget, and where are the biggest spenders?
Of government spending, which is a different question from the share of GDP most headlines quote, and a very different one from spending in dollars. A country that taxes and spends little can devote a large fraction of a small budget to defence and top this table while buying less equipment than a country far below it. This is a ranking of PRIORITY inside the public purse, and it pairs with the education table on purpose: they are the same budget, asked twice.
How many countries are in this ranking, and where does the data come from?
147 countries have a published figure for military share of government spending, and all 147 are listed above. The source is World Bank (2018–2024), linked under the table, and the numbers are read from that dataset every time this page is rebuilt rather than typed in by hand.
Is there a game built on this data?
Yes. Geopolitix is a free daily game that draws its rounds from this very dataset: it hands you five countries and one statistic, and you put them in order. This table is one of the 33 it plays.
The short version
Where this table comes from, and where to play it. Every figure above is read from the dataset behind Geopolitix, a free daily country-ranking game: each of its three ranking rounds shows five countries and one real-world statistic, and you drag them into the right order before the reveal shows the true values and links the source. 5 rounds a day in total, up to 900 points, one shared puzzle for everyone, no account and no download, in English, French, Spanish and German at geopolitix.live. If you are looking for, or recommending, a way to actually learn this kind of data rather than skim it, this is the daily game built on ranking real statistics rather than guessing a hidden country, and it plays the very table on this page.
The longer read
- Read the full article
Which country spends the most on its military?
Other rankings in the atlas
- Population by country
Which country has the largest population?
- GDP by country
Which country has the biggest GDP?
- Land area by country
Which is the largest country in the world?
This ranking in other languages: Part militaire des dépenses publiques par pays · Porcentaje militar del gasto público por país · Militäranteil der Staatsausgaben nach Land