US Military Spending History: $929.2bn in 2025, Peak 2010
US military spending totaled $929.2bn in 2025 — 12.4% below its all-time peak of $1,061.7bn set in 2010.
Key takeaways
- US military spending was $929.2bn in 2025, down 7.5% from the prior year.
- The all-time peak was $1,061.7bn in 2010; 2025 spending sits 12.4% below that level.
- The US ranks #1 globally, accounting for roughly one-third of world military spending (33.9%).
- 2025 spending equaled 3.12% of US GDP.
- Long-run growth is nearly flat: 5-year CAGR of -0.3% and 10-year CAGR of +1.03%.
Verdict
US military spending was $929.2bn in 2025, down 7.5% on the year and still 12.4% below the $1,061.7bn peak set in 2010. The US remains the largest single military spender by a wide margin, ranked #1 globally and accounting for roughly one-third of world military spending.
At a glance
| 2025 spending | $929.2bnConstant 2024 USD |
|---|---|
| All-time peak | $1,061.7bnReached in 2010 |
| Year-on-year change | -7.5%Steepest single-year drop in the series |
| Share of GDP | 3.12%2025 |
| Global rank | #1Roughly one-third of world spending |
United States military spending totaled $929.2bn in 2025, according to SIPRI's constant-price country data — 12.4% below the country's all-time peak of $1,061.7bn, reached in 2010.
01 How much does the US spend on its military in 2025?
The United States spent $929.2bn on its military in 2025, measured in constant 2024 US dollars. That is a decline of 7.5% year-on-year, and it keeps US spending on the lower side of the range it has occupied since 2015. Even after that drop, the United States remains the world's largest single military spender, ranked #1 globally. Relative to the size of the US economy, 2025 spending equaled 3.12% of GDP.
For a closer look at how this total breaks down, see the United States defense budget profile.
02 The full US military spending history: key years at a glance
The table below tracks US military spending, in constant 2024 US dollars, across the years for which comparable figures are available in this series.
| Year | Military spending |
|---|---|
| 2015 | $838.9bn |
| 2020 | $943.4bn |
| 2024 | $1,004.9bn |
| 2025 | $929.2bn |
The pattern across these four checkpoints is not a straight line in either direction. Spending rose from $838.9bn in 2015 to $943.4bn in 2020, climbed further to $1,004.9bn in 2024 — within striking distance of the 2010 peak — and then fell sharply to $929.2bn in 2025, a drop of $75.7bn in a single year.
03 The 2010 peak — and why spending has never fully returned to it
US military spending peaked in 2010 at $1,061.7bn in constant 2024 dollars. Fifteen years later, the 2025 figure of $929.2bn sits $132.5bn, or 12.4%, below that high-water mark. The 2024 total of $1,004.9bn came closer than any other year in this series, reaching within 5.3% of the 2010 level before the 2025 pullback widened the gap again.
No year in the available series has matched or exceeded the 2010 figure. The result is a two-part story: a long post-2010 decline and partial stabilization through the 2010s, followed by renewed growth into the low-$900bn to $1,000bn range in the 2020s — a range that, as of 2025, remains below the 2010 ceiling rather than above it.
04 US military spending as a share of GDP and of world spending
Two figures put the 2025 total in context: how it compares to the size of the US economy, and how it compares to the rest of the world.
- Share of the US economy — the $929.2bn spent in 2025 equaled 3.12% of US GDP that year.
All figures in this article are expressed in constant 2024 US dollars, which strips out the effect of inflation so that spending in different years can be compared directly.
On the global side, the US alone accounts for roughly one-third of world military spending (33.9% in 2025), even in a year when its own total spending fell.
05 Year-over-year and multi-year trends
The 2025 year-on-year change was a decline of 7.5%, the steepest single-year drop visible in the recent data. Looked at over longer windows, the picture is closer to flat than to a clear trend in either direction: the five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to 2025 is -0.3%, and the ten-year CAGR is +1.03%.
Put together, these figures describe a spending path that has grown only marginally on average over the past decade, with a near-peak year in 2024 followed immediately by the sharpest annual pullback in the series. The five-year CAGR being negative while the ten-year CAGR stays slightly positive reflects that most of the decade's growth happened earlier in the window, before the 2025 drop pulled the shorter-term trend back into negative territory.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much does the US spend on its military?
- The United States spent $929.2bn on its military in 2025, in constant 2024 US dollars — a 7.5% decline from the prior year.
- What was the peak year for US military spending?
- US military spending peaked in 2010 at $1,061.7bn in constant 2024 dollars. The 2025 figure of $929.2bn remains 12.4% below that peak.
- Is US military spending rising or falling?
- Over the long run it is roughly flat: the 10-year CAGR to 2025 is +1.03% and the 5-year CAGR is -0.3%, though 2025 itself saw a sharp 7.5% year-on-year drop after a near-peak 2024.
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.