Europe Military Spending: $468bn to $816.9bn (2021-2025)

Europe's military spending rose from $468.0bn in 2021 to $816.9bn in 2025 — a 74.6% increase across the 44 countries SIPRI tracks in the region, our calculation from SIPRI country-level data in constant 2024 US dollars.

01 Europe's military spending: $468.0bn to $816.9bn

In 2021, the 44 European countries SIPRI reports spent a combined $468.0bn on their militaries. By 2025, that figure had climbed to $816.9bn — an increase of $348.9bn, or 74.6%, over four years. Both totals are our own sums of SIPRI's country-level figures rather than a total SIPRI itself publishes.

02 How the top-spending countries changed rank, 2021 vs 2025

The countries at the top of Europe's spending table in 2021 are largely the same names in 2025 — but their order, and their share of the regional total, shifted substantially.

Every country in the 2021 top eight still ranks in the 2025 top eight or fringes on it, but the United Kingdom, which led Europe in 2021 at $72.1bn (15.4% of the regional total), fell to third by 2025 despite its own spending rising to $88.0bn. It was overtaken by two countries whose spending grew faster: Russia and Germany.

03 Russia's rise to the top of European spending

Russia was the second-largest military spender in Europe in 2021, at $68.5bn (14.6% of Europe's $468.0bn total). By 2025 its spending had more than doubled to $158.2bn, making it the largest spender in the region at 19.4% of Europe's $816.9bn total — a bigger single-country share than any country held in 2021. Russia's dollar increase of $89.7bn between 2021 and 2025 accounts for roughly a quarter of Europe's entire $348.9bn regional increase over the same period.

04 Germany, Ukraine and the reshaped middle of the ranking

Germany's spending rose from $59.9bn in 2021 (12.8% of Europe's total, rank 4) to $106.7bn in 2025 (13.1%, rank 2), a 78.1% increase that lifted it past both the United Kingdom and France. Ukraine, which did not appear in Europe's 2021 top eight, entered 2025's ranking directly at fourth place with $77.6bn, equal to 9.5% of Europe's 2025 total. Its emergence pushed France, whose own spending grew more modestly from $60.5bn to $64.5bn, down from third to fifth. Poland and Spain both advanced one place each, with Poland's spending more than doubling from $19.6bn to $42.5bn.

• United Kingdom — $72.1bn to $88.0bn; share of Europe fell from 15.4% to 10.8% as it rose but more slowly than the leaders.
• Germany — $59.9bn to $106.7bn; moved from rank 4 to rank 2.
• Ukraine — not in the 2021 top eight; entered 2025 at rank 4 with $77.6bn.
• Poland — $19.6bn to $42.5bn; spending more than doubled, share of Europe rose from 4.2% to 5.2%.

05 Methodology, sources and related coverage

All figures are in SIPRI constant 2024 US dollars, allowing direct comparison across years without currency or inflation distortion. Europe's totals are our calculation from SIPRI country-level data — not SIPRI's own published regional total — summed across the 44 European countries SIPRI reports spending for in each respective year. Countries without a reported figure for a given year are excluded from that year's total, which is why comparing the 2021 and 2025 totals reflects the same 44-country base in both years rather than a changing country count.

Source: SIPRI Military Expenditure Database, data as of 2026-07-25. For how Europe's countries compare against the rest of the world, see the 2025 world rankings.