World Military Spending: The Global Total in 2025
The world spent at least $2,740.0bn on its military in 2025, up 2.8% on 2024, and five countries account for 59.2% of it.
Key takeaways
- World military spending was at least $2,740.0bn in 2025 — the sum of the 149 countries SIPRI reports, a floor rather than a full world total.
- That is up 2.8% from $2,666.6bn in 2024 and about 40% higher than a decade earlier.
- The United States alone accounts for 33.9% of the total; with China the two are 46.1%.
- The five largest spenders — the US, China, Russia, Germany and India — are 59.2% of the world total between them.
- The 2026 figure of $2,894.4bn is a SIPRI-based estimate, not an actual reported total.
Verdict
The global total for 2025 is $2,740.0bn — the sum of the 149 countries SIPRI reports, so a floor rather than a complete world figure. It rose 2.8% from 2024 and about 40% across the decade. Concentration is extreme: the United States alone is 33.9% of the total, the United States and China together are 46.1%, and the top five are 59.2%.
At a glance
| World total, 2025 | $2,740.0bnsum of 149 reporting countries — a floor, not the whole world |
|---|---|
| Change from 2024 | +2.8%from $2,666.6bn |
| United States share | 33.9%$929.2bn — the largest single share |
| US + China share | 46.1%the two largest spenders combined |
| Top-five share | 59.2%US, China, Russia, Germany, India |
| Decade change | +40%from $1,963.4bn in 2015 |
The world spent at least $2,740.0bn on its military in 2025 — the sum of the 149 countries SIPRI reports figures for, so a floor rather than a complete world total. It rose 2.8% from 2024, and the money is heavily concentrated: five countries account for 59.2% of it.
01 The global total
Adding up every country SIPRI reports for 2025 gives $2,740.0bn, measured in constant 2024 US dollars. That is 2.8% above the 2024 total of $2,666.6bn and roughly 40% above the 2015 total of $1,963.4bn. Spending has risen every year across the decade.
| Year | World total | Countries reporting |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | $1,963.4bn | 150 |
| 2020 | $2,200.7bn | 152 |
| 2024 | $2,666.6bn | 151 |
| 2025 | $2,740.0bn | 149 |
02 What the number covers
This total is our sum of the 149 countries SIPRI reports for 2025, not SIPRI's own published world figure. Some spenders are absent from the country dataset — North Korea has no series at all, and several states have gaps in a given year — so the true world figure is somewhat higher. Read this as a floor.
The figures are in constant 2024 US dollars, which strips out inflation so that year-to-year changes reflect real spending rather than price rises. A country enters the total only in the years it reports, which is why the country count moves slightly from year to year.
03 How concentrated it is
A handful of countries dominate. The United States alone is a third of the world total; with China, the two largest spenders are nearly half of it.
| Rank | Country | 2025 spending | Share of world |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | $929.2bn | 33.9% |
| 2 | China | $335.0bn | 12.2% |
| 3 | Russia | $158.2bn | 5.8% |
| 4 | Germany | $106.7bn | 3.9% |
| 5 | India | $93.3bn | 3.4% |
Together these five account for 59.2% of world military spending; the top ten reach 72.8%. The remaining share is spread across roughly 140 other countries.
04 The ten-year trend
The direction has been steadily upward. The 2025 total is about 40% higher in real terms than in 2015, and the increase has accelerated since 2022. SIPRI-based estimates put 2026 at $2,894.4bn, but that is a projection from announced budgets rather than an actual reported total, and it is not counted in the 2025 figure above.
Concentration has held roughly steady even as the total has grown: the United States has stayed close to a third of the world figure across the decade, while China's share has risen as its spending grew faster than the global average.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much does the world spend on military each year?
- In 2025 the world spent at least $2,740.0bn, measured in constant 2024 US dollars. This is our sum of the 149 countries SIPRI reports figures for, so it is a floor — some spenders, including North Korea, are absent from the dataset, making the true world figure somewhat higher.
- Which country spends the most on its military?
- The United States, by a wide margin. It spent $929.2bn in 2025, which is 33.9% of the world total — more than the next several countries combined. China is second at $335.0bn (12.2%).
- What share of world military spending do the largest countries account for?
- The United States and China together are 46.1% of the 2025 world total. The five largest spenders — adding Russia, Germany and India — reach 59.2%, and the top ten reach 72.8%.
- Is world military spending rising or falling?
- Rising. The 2025 total is up 2.8% from 2024 and about 40% higher in real terms than in 2015, with the increase accelerating since 2022.
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.