World Military Spending

Background of the story

This story analyzes trends in countries’ military spending as a percentage of GDP using SIPRI data from 2014–2024. Military expenditure is a key indicator of regional and global stability. By exploring long-term patterns and recent developments, the story offers insights into how nations allocate their military resources. Changes in military spending can signal rising tensions or shifting regional power, with implications for financial markets.

Key questions

  1. What are the top 10 countries with the highest military spending as a percentage of GDP in 2024? For the 10 countries identified, what are the trends in their military spending as a percentage of GDP from 2014 to 2024?
  2. What are the top 3 countries in Asia with the highest military spending as a percentage of GDP in 2024? For the 3 countries identified, what are the trends in their military spending as a percentage of GDP from 2014 to 2024?
  3. What are the top 10 countries with the highest average military spending from 2014 to 2024? What are the top 3 countries in Asia with the highest average military spending from 2014 to 2024?
  4. Which continent has the highest average military spending as a percentage of GDP in 2024?

Key findings with visuals

  1. The top 10 countries with the highest military spending as a percentage of GDP in 2024 are: Ukraine, Israel, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Myanmar, Oman, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Kuwait. Ukraine has the highest military spending as a percentage of GDP of 34.5%.

Ukraine’s military spending skyrocketed since 2021.

  1. The top 3 Asian countries with the highest military spending as a percentage of GDP in 2024 are: Myanmar, Brunei, and Kyrgyz Republic. Myanmar had the higest spending: 6.8% of GDP.

Myanmar’s military spending spiked in 2024

  1. The Middle East has the highest average military spending as a percentage of GDP in 2024, spending around 4% of their GDP in military spending.

Summary

Ukraine’s military spending skyrocketed since 2021, around the time of Russia full-scale invasion of the country.

Myanmar’s military spending spiked in 2024, after a a coalition of three ethnic armed groups launched an offensive against the junta.

Israel is the only country seeing a significant increase in military spending as a percentage of GDP from 2014 to 2024. The spike happened in 2023, when the conflict in Gaza broke out.

Countries with a significant increase in military spending as a percentage of GDP are all countries already engaging in conflicts. This means that military spending as a percentage of GDP may be a lagging indicator when predicting political stability.