Global military spending rise continues as European and Asian expenditures surge

(Stockholm, 27 April 2026) World military expenditure reached $2887 billion in 2025, an increase of 2.9 per cent in real terms over 2024. Military spending declined in the United States but rose by 14 per cent in Europe and by 8.1 per cent in Asia and Oceania. The top three military spenders—the USA, China and Russia—spent a combined total of $1480 billion, or 51 per cent of the global total, according to new data published today by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

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Rearmament and heightened insecurity fuel widespread spending increases

Global military expenditure increased to $2887 billion in 2025, the 11th year of consecutive rises, bringing the global military burden—military expenditure as a share of gross domestic product (GDP)—to 2.5 per cent, its highest level since 2009. At 2.9 per cent, the annual spending increase was significantly smaller than the 9.7 per cent increase recorded in 2024. However, this slowdown is largely accounted for by a drop in US military spending. Outside the USA, total spending grew by 9.2 per cent in 2025.

‘Global military spending rose again in 2025 as states responded to another year of wars, uncertainty and geopolitical upheaval with large-scale armament drives,’ said Xiao Liang, Researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. ‘Given the range of current crises, as well as many states’ long-term military spending targets, this growth will probably continue through 2026 and beyond.’

US spending shrinks as no new military aid for Ukraine approved during year

At $954 billion, military spending by the United States was 7.5 per cent lower in 2025 than in 2024. The drop was primarily due to the fact that no new financial military assistance for Ukraine was approved during the year. This was in sharp contrast to the previous three years, when a total of $127 billion was approved.

However, the USA increased investments in both nuclear and conventional military capabilities to maintain dominance in the Western Hemisphere and deter China in the Indo-Pacific, which are key goals of the new National Security Strategy.

‘The decline in US military expenditure in 2025 is likely to be short-lived,’ said Nan Tian, Programme Director of the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. ‘Spending approved by the US Congress for 2026 has risen to over $1 trillion, a substantial increase from 2025, and could rise further to $1.5 trillion in 2027 if President Trump’s latest budget proposal is accepted.’

Sharp rise in European spending amid war and new NATO spending target

The main contributor to the global increase in military spending in 2025 was a 14 per cent rise in Europe to $864 billion. Spending by Russia and Ukraine continued to grow in the fourth year of the war in Ukraine, while ongoing rearmament efforts by European NATO members led to the sharpest annual growth in spending in Central and Western Europe since the end of the cold war.

Russia’s military spending grew by 5.9 per cent in 2025 to $190 billion, giving it a military burden of 7.5 per cent of GDP. Ukraine, the seventh largest spender in 2025, increased its spending by 20 per cent to $84.1 billion, or 40 per cent of GDP.

‘In 2025 military expenditure as a share of government spending reached the highest level ever recorded in both Russia and Ukraine,’ said Lorenzo Scarazzato, Researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. ‘Their spending is likely to keep growing in 2026 if the war continues, with revenues from Russia’s oil sales increasing and a major European Union loan expected by Ukraine.’

The 29 European NATO members spent a combined total of $559 billion in 2025, and 22 of them had military spending of at least 2.0 per cent of GDP, according to SIPRI’s methodology. Germany was the largest military spender in the group, with its expenditure growing by 24 per cent year-on-year to $114 billion. Germany’s military burden exceeded the 2.0 per cent threshold for the first time since 1990, reaching 2.3 per cent of GDP in 2025. Military spending by Spain increased by 50 per cent to $40.2 billion, also bringing its military burden above 2.0 per cent of GDP for the first time since 1994.

‘In 2025 military spending by European NATO members rose faster than at any time since 1953, reflecting the ongoing pursuit of European self-reliance alongside increasing pressure from the United States to strengthen burden sharing within the alliance,’ said Jade Guiberteau Ricard, Researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. ‘As states strive to meet the new NATO spending targets agreed in 2025, there is a risk that the boundaries between military and other “defence- and security-related” expenditures become blurred, reducing transparency and further complicating the assessment of military capabilities.’

Spending in Middle East stable despite ongoing conflicts and regional rivalries

Military expenditure in the Middle East reached an estimated $218 billion in 2025, just 0.1 per cent higher than in 2024. Besides Israel, most of the other major spenders in the region for which data is available increased their spending.

The military expenditure of Israel decreased by 4.9 per cent to $48.3 billion, reflecting a reduction in the intensity of the war in Gaza during 2025 after the ceasefire agreement with Hamas in January 2025. Nevertheless, Israel’s spending remained 97 per cent higher than in 2022. Military spending by Türkiye grew by 7.2 per cent in 2025 to $30.0 billion, partly driven by its ongoing military operations in Iraq, Somalia and Syria.

Spending by Iran declined for the second consecutive year, falling by 5.6 per cent to $7.4 billion in 2025. The real-terms decrease was due to high annual inflation of 42 per cent, and spending increased in nominal terms.

‘Despite the recent conflicts, Iran’s military spending decreased in real terms due to economic difficulties,’ said Zubaida Karim, Researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. ‘However, official figures almost certainly understate the true level of Iran’s spending—Iran also uses off-budget oil revenues to finance its military, including the production of missiles and drones.’

Asia and Oceania sees fastest military spending growth since 2009

Military expenditure in Asia and Oceania totalled $681 billion in 2025, 8.1 per cent higher than in 2024—the largest annual rise since 2009. China, the world’s second largest military spender, increased its military spending by 7.4 per cent to $336 billion. This was the 31st consecutive year-on-year increase as China continued its military modernization drive. A renewed campaign against corruption in military procurement does not appear to have constrained spending.

Japan’s military expenditure rose by 9.7 per cent to reach $62.2 billion in 2025, equivalent to 1.4 per cent of GDP—the highest share since 1958. Taiwan’s military spending rose by 14 per cent to $18.2 billion (2.1 per cent of GDP), the largest annual increase since at least 1988, against a backdrop of intensifying military exercises around the island by the People’s Liberation Army.

‘US allies in Asia and Oceania such as Australia, Japan and the Philippines are spending more on their militaries, not only due to long-standing regional tensions but also due to growing uncertainty over US support,’ said Diego Lopes da Silva, Senior Researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. ‘As in Europe, US allies in Asia and Oceania are also under pressure from the Trump administration to spend more on their militaries.’

Other notable developments

Between 2024 and 2025, military spending by the United Kingdom decreased by 2.0 per cent to $89.0 billion. France’s military expenditure rose by 1.5 per cent to $68.0 billion in the same period.
India, the fifth biggest military spender in the world in 2025, increased its military spending by 8.9 per cent to $92.1 billion. Pakistan’s military spending increased by 11 per cent to $11.9 billion.
Saudi Arabia’s military spending increased by 1.4 per cent to reach $83.2 billion, making it the eighth biggest military spender in the world.
Total military spending in Africa increased by 8.5 per cent in 2025 to reach $58.2 billion. Nigeria’s military expenditure grew by 55 per cent to $2.1 billion in 2025, as insurgencies and extremist violence contributed to worsening insecurity.
Guyana’s military expenditure increased by 16 per cent to $248 million in 2025, fuelled by escalating tensions with Venezuela over the Essequibo region. Venezuela’s military spending remains unknown due to a lack of publicly available data.

For editors

SIPRI monitors developments in military expenditure worldwide and maintains the most comprehensive, consistent and extensive publicly available data source on military expenditure. The annual update of the SIPRI Military Expenditure Database is accessible from today at www.sipri.org. The first year for which a global military spending figure is available is 1988.

All percentage changes are expressed in real terms (constant 2024 prices). Military expenditure refers to all government spending on current military forces and activities, including salaries and benefits, operational expenses, arms and equipment purchases, military construction, research and development, and central administration, command and support. SIPRI therefore discourages the use of terms such as ‘arms spending’ when referring to military expenditure, as spending on armaments is usually only a minority of the total.

SIPRI’s methodology for calculating military expenditure differs from that used by NATO. As a result, SIPRI’s data regarding military spending and military burdens in NATO members may not exactly match that published by NATO or other sources, which include certain categories of spending not always included by SIPRI.