Global military spending hits record high, top countries named
Photo: Global military spending has reached a new record high (Getty Images)
Global military spending reached a record high in 2025. The United States, China, and Russia spent the most on military needs, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Global military spending in 2025 reached $2.887 trillion, an increase of 2.9 percent from 2024. Military spending in the United States declined, but rose by 14 percent in Europe and by 8.1 percent in Asia and Oceania.
The three countries with the highest military spending, the US, China, and Russia, spent a total of $1.48 trillion, or 51 percent of the global total.
According to analysts, the 2025 figure marks the 11th consecutive year of growth. The annual growth in spending, at 2.9 percent, was significantly lower than the 9.7 percent recorded in 2024.
However, this slowdown is largely due to a decline in US military spending. Outside the US, total spending rose by 9.2 percent in 2025.
How much US spent
US military spending in 2025, totaling $954 billion, was 7.5 percent lower than in 2024. The decline was primarily because no new financial military aid to Ukraine was approved during the year.
However, the US increased investment in both nuclear and conventional military capabilities to maintain dominance in the Western Hemisphere and contain China in the Indo-Pacific region.
Europe increases weapons spending
The main driver of the global increase in military spending in 2025 was a 14 percent rise in Europe to $864 billion.
At the same time, Russia’s military spending rose by 5.9 percent in 2025 to $190 billion, accounting for 7.5 percent of its GDP. Ukraine, the seventh-largest arms importer in 2025, increased its spending by 20 percent to $84.1 billion, or 40 percent of GDP.
In addition, the 29 European NATO members spent a total of $559 billion, and 22 of them had military expenditures of at least 2.0% of GDP. Germany was the largest military spender in the group, with its expenditures rising by 24% year-over-year to $114 billion.
Middle East spending is stable
Military spending in the Middle East in 2025 reached approximately $218 billion, just 0.1 percent more than in 2024. Aside from Israel, most other major states in the region increased their spending.
Israel’s military spending fell by 4.9 percent to $48.3 billion, reflecting a decrease in the intensity of the war in Gaza throughout 2025 following a ceasefire agreement with Hamas in January 2025.
Nevertheless, Israel’s spending remained 97 percent higher than in 2022. Türkiye's military spending rose by 7.2 percent in 2025 to $30 billion, partly due to its military operations in Iraq, Somalia, and Syria.
Japan's military spending rose by 9.7 percent, reaching $62.2 billion in 2025, equivalent to 1.4 percent of GDP.
Earlier, the Pentagon requested an unprecedented $1.5 trillion for fiscal year 2027. This is the largest military budget in modern US history, representing a 42% increase over last year’s figure.
