US Military Spending After 9/11: $929.2bn in 2025
US military spending was $929.2bn in 2025, down from a post-9/11-era peak of $1,061.7bn in 2010.
Key takeaways
- US military spending was $929.2bn in 2025, down 7.5% from 2024.
- The post-9/11-era peak was $1,061.7bn in 2010; 2025 spending sits about 12.5% below that peak.
- The US remains the world's #1 military spender, accounting for 33.9% of world military spending (a share calculated from SIPRI country-level data).
- Spending fell to $838.9bn by 2015, then climbed back to $943.4bn (2020) and $1,004.9bn (2024) before the 2025 pullback.
- Long-run growth has been roughly flat: -0.3% annualized over 5 years, +1.03% annualized over 10 years.
Verdict
US military spending stood at $929.2bn in 2025, still roughly 12.5% below the post-9/11-era peak of $1,061.7bn set in 2010. The long-run trend since then has been closer to flat than to a sustained climb, though the US retains the #1 global rank and a 33.9% share of world military spending, a share calculated from SIPRI country-level data rather than a SIPRI-published total.
At a glance
| 2025 spending | $929.2bn3.12% of US GDP |
|---|---|
| Post-9/11-era peak | $1,061.7bn2010 |
| World rank | #12025 |
| Share of world spending | 33.9%our calculation from SIPRI country-level data |
| Year-on-year change | -7.5%2024 to 2025 |
| 10-year annualized growth | 1.03%5-year: -0.3% |
United States military spending reached $929.2bn in 2025, according to SIPRI constant 2024 dollar data — down 7.5% from the year before and still below the post-9/11-era peak of $1,061.7bn set in 2010.
01 How Much Does the US Spend on Defense Today?
In 2025, the United States defense budget stood at $929.2bn, equal to 3.12% of US GDP. That keeps the United States ranked #1 in the world on this metric, with US spending equal to 33.9% of world military spending that year — a share derived from SIPRI's country-level data.
The 33.9% world-share figure above is our calculation from SIPRI's country-level spending data, not a single line item SIPRI itself publishes.
02 The Post-9/11 Peak: $1,061.7bn in 2010
The question behind "military spending after 9/11" is usually about trajectory: did US defense spending keep rising after the wars launched in 2001, or has it come back down? SIPRI's constant-dollar series shows spending climbing through the Iraq and Afghanistan war years to a peak of $1,061.7bn in 2010. That year remains the high-water mark for US defense spending in real terms across the entire post-9/11 period tracked here — 2025's $929.2bn sits $132.5bn, or roughly 12.5%, below it.
| Year | US Military Spending |
|---|---|
| 2010 (peak) | $1,061.7bn |
| 2015 | $838.9bn |
| 2020 | $943.4bn |
| 2024 | $1,004.9bn |
| 2025 | $929.2bn |
03 The Drawdown and the 2020s Rebound
After the 2010 peak, spending eased considerably as US troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan wound down and budget caps took hold: by 2015, spending had fallen to $838.9bn, a drop of roughly $222.8bn from the peak. Spending then rebuilt through the second half of the decade, reaching $943.4bn by 2020 — back above the 2010 level's near-neighborhood, though still short of the peak itself. The climb continued into the mid-2020s, with spending hitting $1,004.9bn in 2024, the first year since 2010 to top the $1,000bn mark. 2025's figure of $929.2bn represents a sharp pullback from that 2024 high — a 7.5% year-on-year decline.
04 US Spending in Global Context
Even after the 2025 pullback, the United States remains the world's largest military spender by a wide margin, holding the #1 rank and accounting for 33.9% of world military spending. No other country's total comes close to matching the US figure on its own, which is why year-to-year US moves — like the 7.5% drop from 2024 to 2025 — carry outsized weight in any global spending share built from SIPRI's country-level figures.
05 The Long View: What the Trend Shows
Looking past single-year swings, the multi-year trend lines tell a more measured story than "peak" and "pullback" alone suggest. Over the five years to 2025, US spending has an annualized growth rate of -0.3% — essentially flat in real terms. Over ten years, the annualized rate is 1.03%, a modest real increase. Neither figure points to a runaway upward trajectory; instead, the post-9/11-era pattern is one of a sharp climb to 2010, a drawdown through the mid-2010s, and a choppy, roughly flat-to-slightly-rising path since — with 2025's $929.2bn landing well inside that long-run band rather than breaking from it.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much does the US spend on defense in 2025?
- $929.2bn, according to SIPRI constant 2024 dollar data — 3.12% of US GDP and 33.9% of world military spending.
- When did US defense spending peak after 9/11?
- US spending peaked at $1,061.7bn in 2010, during the Iraq and Afghanistan war years. 2025's $929.2bn is about 12.5% below that peak.
- Is US military spending rising or falling?
- It fell 7.5% from 2024 to 2025. Over longer horizons the trend is closer to flat: -0.3% annualized over 5 years and +1.03% annualized over 10 years.
- Is the US still the world's largest military spender?
- Yes. The US ranks #1 in 2025, accounting for 33.9% of world military spending — a share calculated from SIPRI country-level data, not a single published SIPRI total.
defensebudget.org
Defense spending data, sourced from SIPRI
defensebudget.org tracks military expenditure for 160 countries using the SIPRI Military Expenditure Database. Pages are generated from that dataset and reviewed before publication.