In 2024, the U.S. spent nearly $1 trillion on its defense budget, equal to 3.4% of GDP.

In contrast, NATO members in Europe and Canada spent an average of 2% of GDP on defense. While NATO’s defense budgets have declined since the Cold War, Russia’s military spending has surged by 227% since 2000, and China’s has skyrocketed by 566%.

This graphic shows the top 15 largest defense budgets in 2024, based on data from the International Institute of Strategic Studies.

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