Military Spending Worldwide

Military spending by various countries all over the world can be measured as each country’s spending percentage of that country’s gross domestic product. A country’s GDP is a total of the value of the services provided in a country and the products that are made there. It does not include the value of items that are imported into that country, but it does include items that are made in a country and exported out of it. The GDP of a country is often considered to be a good indicator of that country’s standard of living.

In general, the Middle East has the highest amount of military spending when compared to the GDP of the countries in that region. Africa is a mixture of countries that spend little and countries that spend nearly as much as the Middle East when compared to their own GDPs. Europe and the Americas spend in the mid range with Mexico and most Central American countries spending the least of these countries when compared to its GDP. Australasia and East Asia are also in the mid-range with Japan spending little compared to its GDP.

Total military spending all over the world can be broken down into the percentage that the country or region makes up of the entire world’s military spending. The United States spends $711 billion on military spending each year, representing 48 percent of the total military spending in the world. Central and South America spend $30 billion annually on the military, making up 2 percent of the total.

In Latin America, $39 billion is spent on the military each year, representing 3 percent of the world’s total military spending. Sub-Saharan Africa spends $10 billion per year on military spending. This expenditure is 1 percent of the world’s military spending. Russia spends $70 billion per year on its military. This is 5 percent of the total military spending of the world each year.

The Middle East and North Africa spend $82 billion on military spending each year. This is 5 percent of the world’s military spending. Australasia and East Asia together spend $120 billion on military expenses. This is 8 percent of total world military spending. China spends 8 percent of the world’s total military spending with $122 billion spent each year. Europe spends a total of $289 billion on military spend annually. Europe’s military spending is 20 percent of the world’s military spending.