100 countries spending the most on their military

Written by:
August 15, 2018
Nazile Keskin // Shutterstock

100 countries spending the most on their military

If we lived in an ideal world, conflicts would be settled via peaceful resolution and treasuries around the world would save hundreds of billions of dollars annually on military expenses. Unfortunately, it seems nearly impossible to turn on the news without hearing about yet another country being torn apart by violence.

Though the state of international affairs makes it difficult for any country to avoid some military spending, the degree to which governments invest in their armed forces is heavily variant, depending on certain factors.

Using data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Stacker listed the 100 countries investing the most money in their military. The countries are ranked according to their respective per-capita military spending in U.S. dollars and listed along with their total expenditure, as well as how their total expenditure ranks amongst the world’s military powers.

Read on to see where the United States falls on the list.

ALSO: Looking back at 100 years of military history

#100. Kyrgyzstan

Per capita spending: $37
Total expenditure: $222.8 million
Total expenditure rank: #108/145

#99. El Salvador

Per capita spending: $39
Total expenditure: $246.8 million
Total expenditure rank: #107/145

#98. Honduras

Per capita spending: $39
Total expenditure: $363.6 million
Total expenditure rank: #96/145

#97. Philippines

Per capita spending: $42
Total expenditure: $4.4 billion
Total expenditure rank: #41/145

#96. Mexico

Per capita spending: $45
Total expenditure: $5.8 billion
Total expenditure rank: #32/145

#95. Jamaica

Per capita spending: $45
Total expenditure: $130.9 million
Total expenditure rank: #118/145

#94. Dominican Republic

Per capita spending: $46
Total expenditure: $495.6 million
Total expenditure rank: #83/145

#93. Bosnia-Herzegovina

Per capita spending: $47
Total expenditure: $164.6 million
Total expenditure rank: #116/145

#92. India

Per capita spending: $48
Total expenditure: $63.9 billion
Total expenditure rank: #5/145

#91. Fiji

Per capita spending: $51
Total expenditure: $45.9 million
Total expenditure rank: #138/145

#90. Paraguay

Per capita spending: $51
Total expenditure: $348.2 million
Total expenditure rank: #97/145

#89. Vietnam

Per capita spending: $53
Total expenditure: $5.1 billion
Total expenditure rank: #37/145

#88. Macedonia

Per capita spending: $54
Total expenditure: $111.8 million
Total expenditure rank: #120/145

#87. Pakistan

Per capita spending: $55
Total expenditure: $10.8 billion
Total expenditure rank: #19/145

#86. Albania

Per capita spending: $55
Total expenditure: $162.5 million
Total expenditure rank: #117/145

#85. Bolivia

Per capita spending: $59
Total expenditure: $656.8 million
Total expenditure rank: #76/145

#84. Belize

Per capita spending: $61
Total expenditure: $22.8 million
Total expenditure rank: #144/145

#83. Swaziland

Per capita spending: $63
Total expenditure: $86.5 million
Total expenditure rank: #124/145

#82. South Africa

Per capita spending: $64
Total expenditure: $3.6 billion
Total expenditure rank: #46/145

#81. Peru

Per capita spending: $65
Total expenditure: $2.1 billion
Total expenditure rank: #58/145

#80. Belarus

Per capita spending: $67
Total expenditure: $631.1 million
Total expenditure rank: #77/145

#79. Tunisia

Per capita spending: $73
Total expenditure: $835.5 million
Total expenditure rank: #72/145

#78. Kazakhstan

Per capita spending: $73
Total expenditure: $1.3 billion
Total expenditure rank: #66/145

#77. Guyana

Per capita spending: $74
Total expenditure: $57.3 million
Total expenditure rank: #134/145

#76. Ukraine

Per capita spending: $83
Total expenditure: $3.6 billion
Total expenditure rank: #45/145

#75. Serbia

Per capita spending: $83
Total expenditure: $731.1 million
Total expenditure rank: #75/145

#74. Georgia

Per capita spending: $85
Total expenditure: $332.7 million
Total expenditure rank: #101/145

#73. Sri Lanka

Per capita spending: $89
Total expenditure: $1.9 billion
Total expenditure rank: #60/145

#72. Thailand

Per capita spending: $92
Total expenditure: $6.3 billion
Total expenditure rank: #31/145

#71. Congo

Per capita spending: $92
Total expenditure: $484.3 million
Total expenditure rank: #85/145

#70. Morocco

Per capita spending: $97
Total expenditure: $3.5 billion
Total expenditure rank: #50/145

#69. Angola

Per capita spending: $103
Total expenditure: $3.1 billion
Total expenditure rank: #51/145

#68. Sudan

Per capita spending: $108
Total expenditure: $4.4 billion
Total expenditure rank: #40/145

#67. Malaysia

Per capita spending: $111
Total expenditure: $3.5 billion
Total expenditure rank: #49/145

#66. Montenegro

Per capita spending: $118
Total expenditure: $74.3 million
Total expenditure rank: #127/145

#65. Bulgaria

Per capita spending: $122
Total expenditure: $866.7 million
Total expenditure rank: #71/145

#64. Argentina

Per capita spending: $128
Total expenditure: $5.7 billion
Total expenditure rank: #33/145

#63. Brazil

Per capita spending: $140
Total expenditure: $29.3 billion
Total expenditure rank: #11/145

#62. Hungary

Per capita spending: $146
Total expenditure: $1.4 billion
Total expenditure rank: #64/145

#61. Ecuador

Per capita spending: $146
Total expenditure: $2.4 billion
Total expenditure rank: #55/145

#60. Malta

Per capita spending: $148
Total expenditure: $63.5 million
Total expenditure rank: #132/145

#59. Trinidad & Tobago

Per capita spending: $148
Total expenditure: $201.9 million
Total expenditure rank: #110/145

#58. Gabon

Per capita spending: $148
Total expenditure: $298.7 million
Total expenditure rank: #104/145

#57. Armenia

Per capita spending: $151
Total expenditure: $443.6 million
Total expenditure rank: #91/145

#56. Azerbaijan

Per capita spending: $156
Total expenditure: $1.5 billion
Total expenditure rank: #63/145

#55. China

Per capita spending: $162
Total expenditure: $228.2 billion
Total expenditure rank: #2/145

#54. Namibia

Per capita spending: $171
Total expenditure: $433.9 million
Total expenditure rank: #92/145

#53. Iran

Per capita spending: $179
Total expenditure: $14.5 billion
Total expenditure rank: #18/145

#52. Croatia

Per capita spending: $184
Total expenditure: $771.9 million
Total expenditure rank: #74/145

#51. Iraq

Per capita spending: $194
Total expenditure: $7.4 billion
Total expenditure rank: #28/145

#50. Colombia

Per capita spending: $198
Total expenditure: $9.7 billion
Total expenditure rank: #25/145

#49. Jordan

Per capita spending: $200
Total expenditure: $1.9 billion
Total expenditure rank: #59/145

#48. Romania

Per capita spending: $204
Total expenditure: $4.0 billion
Total expenditure rank: #42/145

#47. Slovak Republic

Per capita spending: $207
Total expenditure: $1.1 billion
Total expenditure rank: #68/145

#46. Czech Republic

Per capita spending: $210
Total expenditure: $2.2 billion
Total expenditure rank: #57/145

#45. Turkey

Per capita spending: $225
Total expenditure: $18.2 billion
Total expenditure rank: #15/145

#44. Seychelles

Per capita spending: $229
Total expenditure: $21.7 million
Total expenditure rank: #145/145

#43. Slovenia

Per capita spending: $230
Total expenditure: $477.5 million
Total expenditure rank: #86/145

#42. Botswana

Per capita spending: $232
Total expenditure: $531.2 million
Total expenditure rank: #80/145

#41. Ireland

Per capita spending: $235
Total expenditure: $1.1 billion
Total expenditure rank: #69/145

#40. Algeria

Per capita spending: $244
Total expenditure: $10.1 billion
Total expenditure rank: #22/145

#39. Poland

Per capita spending: $262
Total expenditure: $10.0 billion
Total expenditure rank: #24/145

#38. Latvia

Per capita spending: $264
Total expenditure: $513.7 million
Total expenditure rank: #81/145

#37. Lithuania

Per capita spending: $281
Total expenditure: $811.8 million
Total expenditure rank: #73/145

#36. Chile

Per capita spending: $284
Total expenditure: $5.1 billion
Total expenditure rank: #35/145

#35. Cyprus

Per capita spending: $335
Total expenditure: $394.7 million
Total expenditure rank: #94/145

#34. Austria

Per capita spending: $340
Total expenditure: $3.0 billion
Total expenditure rank: #52/145

#33. Spain

Per capita spending: $350
Total expenditure: $16.2 billion
Total expenditure rank: #17/145

#32. Japan

Per capita spending: $356
Total expenditure: $45.4 billion
Total expenditure rank: #8/145

#31. Uruguay

Per capita spending: $359
Total expenditure: $1.2 billion
Total expenditure rank: #67/145

#30. Portugal

Per capita spending: $365
Total expenditure: $3.8 billion
Total expenditure rank: #44/145

#29. Belgium

Per capita spending: $389
Total expenditure: $4.4 billion
Total expenditure rank: #39/145

#28. Lebanon

Per capita spending: $401
Total expenditure: $2.4 billion
Total expenditure rank: #54/145

#27. Estonia

Per capita spending: $410
Total expenditure: $536.3 million
Total expenditure rank: #79/145

#26. Taiwan

Per capita spending: $447
Total expenditure: $10.6 billion
Total expenditure rank: #20/145

#25. Greece

Per capita spending: $456
Total expenditure: $5.1 billion
Total expenditure rank: #36/145

#24. Russia

Per capita spending: $461
Total expenditure: $66.3 billion
Total expenditure rank: #4/145

#23. Italy

Per capita spending: $493
Total expenditure: $29.2 billion
Total expenditure rank: #12/145

#22. New Zealand

Per capita spending: $495
Total expenditure: $2.3 billion
Total expenditure rank: #56/145

#21. Germany

Per capita spending: $540
Total expenditure: $44.3 billion
Total expenditure rank: #9/145

#20. Luxembourg

Per capita spending: $545
Total expenditure: $317.9 million
Total expenditure rank: #102/145

#19. Switzerland

Per capita spending: $546
Total expenditure: $4.6 billion
Total expenditure rank: #38/145

#18. Sweden

Per capita spending: $561
Total expenditure: $5.6 billion
Total expenditure rank: #34/145

#17. Canada

Per capita spending: $562
Total expenditure: $20.6 billion
Total expenditure rank: #14/145

#16. Netherlands

Per capita spending: $590
Total expenditure: $10.0 billion
Total expenditure rank: #23/145

#15. Finland

Per capita spending: $651
Total expenditure: $3.6 billion
Total expenditure rank: #47/145

#14. Denmark

Per capita spending: $662
Total expenditure: $3.8 billion
Total expenditure rank: #43/145

#13. UK

Per capita spending: $713
Total expenditure: $47.2 billion
Total expenditure rank: #7/145

#12. South Korea

Per capita spending: $768
Total expenditure: $39.2 billion
Total expenditure rank: #10/145

#11. Brunei

Per capita spending: $809
Total expenditure: $346.7 million
Total expenditure rank: #98/145

#10. France

Per capita spending: $889
Total expenditure: $57.8 billion
Total expenditure rank: #6/145

#9. Bahrain

Per capita spending: $936
Total expenditure: $1.4 billion
Total expenditure rank: #65/145

#8. Australia

Per capita spending: $1,123
Total expenditure: $27.5 billion
Total expenditure rank: #13/145

#7. Norway

Per capita spending: $1,238
Total expenditure: $6.6 billion
Total expenditure rank: #30/145

#6. Kuwait

Per capita spending: $1,651
Total expenditure: $6.8 billion
Total expenditure rank: #29/145

#5. Singapore

Per capita spending: $1,786
Total expenditure: $10.2 billion
Total expenditure rank: #21/145

#4. Oman

Per capita spending: $1,874
Total expenditure: $8.7 billion
Total expenditure rank: #26/145

#3. USA

Per capita spending: $1,879
Total expenditure: $609.8 billion
Total expenditure rank: #1/145

#2. Israel

Per capita spending: $1,982
Total expenditure: $16.5 billion
Total expenditure rank: #16/145

#1. Saudi Arabia

Per capita spending: $2,107
Total expenditure: $69.4 billion
Total expenditure rank: #3/145

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