For those who adhere to a realpolitik interpretation of international affairs, a bigger military is akin to a greater share of global power and influence. Whether such a framing of international relations is what dictates patterns in military spending or not,
appeared to plateau between 2009 and 2016, before increasing significantly in recent years, a development partly explained by outbreak of the
as a major arms spender. The largest contributor to the vast sums of money spent on defense and arms each year is the United States military. A look at the
shows that the United States spent almost a trillion U.S. dollars, three times more than that of China in second place.
Military aircraft
This high amount of spending has helped to maintain the military dominance of the United States around the world. This stretches to a number of aspects and is evident in the United States accounting for a quarter of
active military aircraft globally. Although current aircraft remain important, new drone technology has become an increasingly important asset in modern warfare, reflected in the fact that the
global drone market is expected to reach over 90 billion U.S. dollars by 2030.
Military expenditure as share of GDP
Given the variance in country sizes and the strength of their respective economies,
military expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product is a useful tool for evaluating the importance particular states place on their military. In this measure, Ukraine stood out in 2024, spending more than one third of its GDP on military. This is a natural consequence of Russia's invasion of the country in 2022. Israel, that has been at war with Hamas since October 2023, recorded military spending of around nine percent of GDP, with a
65 percent increase compared to 2023.
Largest armies in the world
When it comes to military power, size certainly matters. As such, larger states such as the United States and China have massive militaries despite spending less as a portion of their gross domestic product. China has the
biggest military in the world regarding military personnel, counting around two million people in their ranks. Despite placing more emphasis on technology and weaponry, the size of the
United States military still numbers over 1.3 million.
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