On Sunday, April 26, 2026, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) published a report titled Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2025, concerning global military spending in the previous year. It found a 2.9% increase in real terms compared with 2024, reaching 2.887 trillion USD. According to the report’s overall conclusions, defense spending decreased in the United States but rose by 14% in Europe and by 8.1% in Asia and Oceania. The top three countries – the United States, China, and Russia – spent a combined 1.480 trillion USD, accounting for 51% of global military expenditure.
Illustrative photo: 22nd Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Armaments and Rising Uncertainty Drive Widespread Spending Increases
Global military expenditure rose to 2.887 trillion USD in 2025, marking the eleventh consecutive year of growth and increasing the global military burden – military spending as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) – to 2.5%, the highest level since 2009. The annual increase in spending, at 2.9%, was significantly lower than the 9.7% rise recorded in 2024. However, this slowdown is largely due to a decline in U.S. military expenditure. Excluding the United States, total spending increased by 9.2% in 2025.
According to Xiao Liang, a researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, global military spending rose again in 2025 as countries responded to another year of war, uncertainty, and geopolitical upheaval by pursuing broad rearmament efforts. Given the scale of current crises and the long-term military spending targets set by many states, he said this upward trend is likely to continue into 2026 and beyond.
US spending shrinks as no new military aid for Ukraine approved during year
At 954 billion USD, military spending by the United States was 7.5% lower in 2025 than in 2024. The decline was primarily due to the fact that no new financial military assistance for Ukraine was approved during the year. This stood in sharp contrast to the previous three years, when a total of 127 billion USD had been approved.
However, the United States increased investment in both nuclear and conventional military capabilities in order to maintain dominance in the Western Hemisphere and deter China in the Indo-Pacific –key goals of the new National Security Strategy of the United States (NSS 2025) and the 2026 National Defense Strategy (NDS 2026).
“The decline in US military expenditure in 2025 is likely to be short-lived,” said Nan Tian, Programme Director of SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. “Spending approved by the US Congress for 2026 has risen to over $1 trillion, a substantial increase from 2025, and could rise further to $1.5 trillion in 2027 if President Trump’s latest budget proposal is accepted.”
Sharp rise in European spending amid war and new NATO spending target
The main contributor to the global increase in military spending in 2025 was a 14% rise in Europe, to 864 billion USD. Spending by Russia and Ukraine continued to grow in the fourth year of the war in Ukraine, while ongoing rearmament efforts by European NATO members led to the sharpest annual increase in spending in Central and Western Europe since the end of the Cold War.
Russia’s military spending grew by 5.9% in 2025, to 190 billion USD, giving it a military burden of 7.5% of GDP. Ukraine, the seventh-largest spender in 2025, increased its spending by 20%, to 84.1 billion USD, or 40% of GDP.
“In 2025 military expenditure as a share of government spending reached the highest level ever recorded in both Russia and Ukraine,” said Lorenzo Scarazzato, Researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. “Their spending is likely to keep growing in 2026 if the war continues, with revenues from Russia’s oil sales increasing and a major European Union loan expected by Ukraine.”
The 29 European NATO member states spent a combined total of 559 billion USD in 2025, and 22 of them recorded military spending of at least 2.0% of GDP, according to SIPRI’s methodology. Germany was the largest military spender in this group, with its expenditure rising by 24% year on year, to 114 billion USD. Germany’s military burden exceeded the 2.0% threshold for the first time since 1990, reaching 2.3% of GDP in 2025. Spain’s military spending increased by 50%, to 40.2 billion USD, also pushing its military burden above 2.0% of GDP for the first time since 1994.
Poland again ranked 14th in the world in terms of military spending, recording a 23% increase to 46.8 billion USD (169.92 billion PLN), which represented 4.5% of the country’s GDP and 1.6% of global military spendings. Compared with 2016, its arms spending increased by 207%.
“In 2025 military spending by European NATO members rose faster than at any time since 1953, reflecting the ongoing pursuit of European self-reliance alongside increasing pressure from the United States to strengthen burden sharing within the alliance,” said Jade Guiberteau Ricard, Researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. “As states strive to meet the new NATO spending targets agreed in 2025, there is a risk that the boundaries between military and other ‘defence- and security-related’ expenditures become blurred, reducing transparency and further complicating the assessment of military capabilities.”
Image: SIPRI
Middle East spending stable despite ongoing conflicts and regional rivalries
Military expenditure in the Middle East reached an estimated 218 billion USD in 2025, just 0.1% higher than in 2024. Besides Israel, most of the other major defense spenders in the region for which data is available increased their spending.
Israel’s military expenditure decreased by 4.9%, to 48.3 billion USD, reflecting a reduction in the intensity of the war in Gaza in 2025 following the ceasefire agreement with Hamas in January 2025. Nevertheless, Israel’s spending remained 97% higher than in 2022. Türkiye’s military spending grew by 7.2% in 2025, to 30.0 billion USD, partly driven by its ongoing military operations in Iraq, Somalia, and Syria.
Iran’s spending declined for the second consecutive year, falling by 5.6%, to 7.4 billion USD in 2025. The real-terms decrease was due to high annual inflation of 42%, while spending increased in nominal terms.
“Despite the recent conflicts, Iran’s military spending decreased in real terms due to economic difficulties,” said Zubaida Karim, Researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. “However, official figures almost certainly understate the true level of Iran’s spending—Iran also uses off-budget oil revenues to finance its military, including the production of missiles and drones.”
Asia and Oceania record the fastest growth in military spending since 2009
Military expenditure in Asia and Oceania totalled 681 billion USD in 2025, 8.1% higher than in 2024 – the largest annual rise since 2009. China, the world’s second-largest military spender, increased its military spending by 7.4%, to 336 billion USD. This was the 31st consecutive year-on-year increase, as China continued its military modernization drive. A renewed campaign against corruption in military procurement does not appear to have constrained spending.
Japan’s military expenditure rose by 9.7%, reaching 62.2 billion USD in 2025, equivalent to 1.4% of GDP – the highest share since 1958. Taiwan’s military spending rose by 14%, to 18.2 billion USD, or 2.1% of GDP, the largest annual increase since at least 1988, against a backdrop of intensifying military exercises around the island by the People’s Liberation Army.
“US allies in Asia and Oceania such as Australia, Japan and the Philippines are spending more on their militaries, not only due to long-standing regional tensions but also due to growing uncertainty over US support,” said Diego Lopes da Silva, Senior Researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. “As in Europe, US allies in Asia and Oceania are also under pressure from the Trump administration to spend more on their militaries.”
Other notable developments
- Between 2024 and 2025, UK military spending decreased by 2.0%, to USD 89.0 billion. France’s military expenditure rose by 1.5% over the same period, to 68.0 billion USD.
- India, the world’s fifth-largest military spender in 2025, increased its military spending by 8.9%, to 92.1 billion USD. Pakistan’s military spending increased by 11%, to 11.9 billion USD.
- Saudi Arabia’s military spending increased by 1.4%, to 83.2 billion USD, making it the eighth-largest military spender in the world.
- Total military spending in Africa increased by 8.5% in 2025, reaching 58.2 billion USD. Nigeria’s military expenditure grew by 55%, to 2.1 billion USD, as insurgencies and extremist violence contributed to worsening insecurity.
- Guyana’s military expenditure increased by 16%, to 248 million USD in 2025, fuelled by escalating tensions with Venezuela over the Essequibo region. Venezuela’s military spending remains unknown due to a lack of publicly available data.
Full report in English available for download: Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2025
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