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Ranked: The 100 Most Spoken Languages Around the World

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100 Most Spoken Languages

Ranked: The 100 Most Spoken Languages Worldwide

Even though youโ€™re reading this article in English, thereโ€™s a good chance it might not be your mother tongue. Of the billion-strong English speakers in the world, only 33% consider it their native language.

The popularity of a language depends greatly on utility and geographic location. Additionally, how we measure the spread of world languages can vary greatly depending on whether you look at total speakers or native speakers.

Todayโ€™s detailed visualization from WordTips illustrates the 100 most spoken languages in the world, the number of native speakers for each language, and the origin tree that each language has branched out from.

How Do You Define A Language?

The data comes from the 22nd edition of Ethnologue, a database covering a majority of the worldโ€™s population, detailing approximately 7,111 living languages in existence today.

The definitions of languages are often dynamic, blurring the lines around a singular understanding of what makes a language:

  • Linguistic: focused on lexical and grammatical differences, or on variations within speech communities
  • Social: focused on cultural or political factors, as well as heritage and identity

For the purposes of measurement, the researchers use the ISO 693-3 set of criteria, which accounts for related varieties and dialectsโ€”ensuring that linguistics are not the only factor considered in this count of languages.

Here are the language origins of the 100 most spoken languages:

The-100-Most-Spoken-Languages-in-the-World_Supplemental

Indo-European languages have the widest spread worldwide. According to Ethnologue, the language family contains over 3 billion speakers in total. Interestingly, there are actually 1,526 Niger-Congo languages altogether, though only 12 are represented here.

Letโ€™s now dive into the top 10 most spoken languages overall.

Which Languages Have the Most Speakers?

It comes as no surprise that English reigns supreme, with over 1.1 billion total speakersโ€”or roughly 15% of the global population. Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, and French round out the top five.

RankLanguageTotal SpeakersLanguage Origin
1English1,132 millionIndo-European
2Mandarin Chinese1,117 millionSino-Tibetan
3Hindi615 millionIndo-European
4Spanish534 millionIndo-European
5French280 millionIndo-European
6Standard Arabic274 millionAfro-Asiatic
7Bengali265 millionIndo-European
8Russian258 millionIndo-European
9Portuguese234 millionIndo-European
10Indonesian199 millionAustronesian

However, this is only one piece in the full fabric of languages.

The metrics for native speakers tell a slightly different tale, as Mandarin Chinese shoots up to 918 millionโ€”almost 2.5x that of English native speakers.

RankLanguageNative SpeakersLanguage Origin
1Mandarin Chinese918 millionSino-Tibetan
2Spanish460 millionIndo-European
3English379 millionIndo-European
4Hindi341 millionIndo-European
5Bengali228 millionIndo-European
6Portuguese221 millionIndo-European
7Russian154 millionIndo-European
8Japanese128 millionJapanic
9Western Punjabi93 millionIndo-European
10Marathi83 millionIndo-European

Note: No native speaker data was available for Filipino, Standard Arabic, Nigerian Pidgin, or Cameroonian Pidgin.

Here, Spanish comes in strong second for native speakers with 460 million, considering it’s well-used across Latin America. The Indian languages of Hindi and Bengali cap off the top five by native speakers as well.

These are the biggest languages people learn growing up, but what about the ones they pick up later in life?

What About Second (L2) Languages?

Nearly 43% of the worldโ€™s population is bilingual, with the ability to switch between two languages with ease.

From the data, second language (L2) speakers can be calculated by looking at the difference between native and total speakers, as a proportion of the total. For example, 66% of English speakers learned it as a second language.

Swahili surprisingly has the highest ratio of L2 speakers to total speakersโ€”although it only has 16 million native speakers, this shoots up to 98 million total speakers. Overall, 82% of Swahili speakers know it as a second language.

Swahili is listed as a national or official language in several African countries: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Itโ€™s likely that the movement of people from rural areas into big cities in search of better economic opportunities, is whatโ€™s boosting the adoption of Swahili as a second language.

Indonesian is another similar example. With a 78% proportion of L2 speakers compared to total speakers, this variation on the Malay language has been used as the lingua franca across the islands for a long time. In contrast, only 17% of Mandarin speakers know it as a second language, perhaps because it is one of the most challenging languages to learn.

Keeping Language Traditions Alive

Languages are fluid, and constantly evolvingโ€”altogether, the 100 most spoken languages paint a unique picture across centuries of a changing world. Hereโ€™s the full list of these languages, by types of speakers and language origin.

RankLanguageTotal SpeakersNative SpeakersOrigin
1English1,132M379MIndo-European
2Mandarin Chinese1,117M918MSino-Tibetan
3Hindi615M341MIndo-European
4Spanish534M460MIndo-European
5French280M77MIndo-European
6Standard Arabic274MNAAfro-Asiatic
7Bengali265M228MIndo-European
8Russian258M154MIndo-European
9Portuguese234M221MIndo-European
10Indonesian199M43MAustronesian
11Urdu170M69MIndo-European
12Standard German132M76MIndo-European
13Japanese128M128MJapanic
14Swahili98M16MNiger-Congo
15Marathi95M83MIndo-European
16Telugu93M82MDravidian
17Western Punjabi93M93MIndo-European
18Wu Chinese82M81MSino-Tibetan
19Tamil81M75MDravidian
20Turkish80M69MTurkic
21Korean77M77MKoreanic
22Vietnamese77M76MAustronesian
23Yue Chinese74M73MSino-Tibetan
24Javanese68M68MAustronesian
25Italian68M65MIndo-European
26Egyptian Spoken Arabic65M65MAfro-Asiatic
27Hausa63M44MAfro-Asiatic
28Thai61M21MKra-Dai
29Gujarati61M56MIndo-European
30Kannada56M44MDravidian
31Iranian Persian53M53MIndo-European
32Bhojpuri52M52MIndo-European
33Southern Min Chinese50M50MSino-Tibetan
34Hakka Chinese48M48MSino-Tibetan
35Jinyu Chinese47M47MSino-Tibetan
36Filipino45MNAAustronesian
37Burmese43M33MSino-Tibetan
38Polish40M40MIndo-European
39Yoruba40M38MNiger-Congo
40Odia38M34MIndo-European
41Malayalam38M37MDravidian
42Xiang Chinese37M37MSino-Tibetan
43Maithili34M34MIndo-European
44Ukrainian33M27MIndo-European
45Moroccan Spoken Arabic33M27MAfro-Asiatic
46Eastern Punjabi33M33MIndo-European
47Sunda32M32MAustronesian
48Algerian Spoken Arabic32M29MAfro-Asiatic
49Sudanese Spoken Arabic32M32MAfro-Asiatic
50Nigerian Pidgin30MNAIndo-European
51Zulu28M12MNiger-Congo
52Igbo27M27MNiger-Congo
53Amharic26M22MAfro-Asiatic
54Northern Uzbek25M25MTurkic
55Sindhi25M25MIndo-European
56North Levantine Spoken Arabic25M25MAfro-Asiatic
57Nepali25M16MIndo-European
58Romanian24M24MIndo-European
59Tagalog24M24MAustronesian
60Dutch23M23MIndo-European
61Sa'idi Spoken Arabic22M22MAfro-Asiatic
62Gan Chinese22M22MSino-Tibetan
63Northern Pashto21M21MIndo-European
64Magahi21M21MIndo-European
65Saraiki20M20MIndo-European
66Xhosa19M8MNiger-Congo
67Malay19M16MAustronesian
68Khmer18M17MAustronesian
69Afrikaans18M7MIndo-European
70Sinhala17M15MIndo-European
71Somali16M16MAfro-Asiatic
72Chhattisgarhi16M16MIndo-European
73Cebuano16M16MAustronesian
74Mesopotamian Spoken Arabic16M16MAfro-Asiatic
75Assamese15M15MIndo-European
76Northeastern Thai15M15MKra-Dai
77Northern Kurdish15M15MIndo-European
78Hijazi Spoken Arabic15M15MAfro-Asiatic
79Nigerian Fulfulde14M14MNiger-Congo
80Bavarian14M14MIndo-European
81Bamanankan14M4MNiger-Congo
82South Azerbaijani14M14MTurkic
83Northern Sotho14M5MNiger-Congo
84Setswana14M6MNiger-Congo
85Souther Sotho14M6MNiger-Congo
86Czech13M11MIndo-European
87Greek13M13MIndo-European
88Chittagonian13M13MIndo-European
89Kazakh13M13MTurkic
90Swedish13M10MIndo-European
91Deccan13M13MIndo-European
92Hungarian13M13MUralic
93Jula12M2MNiger-Congo
94Sadri12M5MIndo-European
95Kinyarwanda12M12MNiger-Congo
96Cameroonian Pidgin12MNAIndo-European
97Sylheti12M10MIndo-European
98South Levantine Spoken Arabic12M12MAfro-Asiatic
99Tunisian Spoken Arabic12M12MAfro-Asiatic
100Sanaani Spoken Arabic11M11MAfro-Asiatic

One reason these languages are popular is that they are actively and consistently used. Unfortunately, nearly 3,000 (about 40%) of all languages are at risk of being lost, or are already in the process of dying out today.

Languages play a crucial role in our daily lives. โ€ฆ [Their] losses have huge negative impacts indigenous peoplesโ€™ most basic human rights.

โ€”UN, IYoIL statement

As a result, the United Nations declared 2019 the International Year of Indigenous Languages (IYoIL), with a resolution to continue fostering these languages and pass on their knowledge for future generations.

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War

Interactive: Comparing Military Spend Around the World

Which countries have the highest military spend relative to their economy? This visual breaks down the amount spent in each country by GDP.

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A map showing countries' military spend as a percentage of their gross domestic product.

Comparing Military Spend Around the World

One of the easiest ways to identify a nationโ€™s priorities is by tracking its expenditures, and military spend is no different.

Usually spending is measured, and ranked, in absolute amounts. For example, countries around the world collectively spent $2.1 trillion on their militaries in 2021, with the most coming from the U.S. ($800 billion), China ($293 billion), and India ($77 billion).

But these eye-popping figures are best understood in the context of each country’s economy. Using data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Varun Jain has visualized 158 countries’ military expenditures, both as a percentage of their total GDP as well as in average per-capita spend.

Countriesโ€™ Military Spend as a Percentage of their Economy

To begin, Jain identified three categories of military expenditure as a percent of GDP, using the five-year (2018โ€’2022) average for more consistent data:

Military Spend% of GDPCountries
HighAbove 5%7
Medium2โ€’5%44
LowBelow 2%107

Under this categorization, the stand outs are the countries spending an outsized amount of their economic output on military, rather than the highest total spenders in absolute terms.

At the top of the table is Ukraine, which has earmarked a staggering average of 9.46% of its total economic output on defense over the past five years. That’s well ahead of second-place Saudi Arabia, which is slightly above 8%.

In Ukraine’s case, its high ranking shows how quickly priorities can change. From 2018 to 2021, the country spent 3.2-3.8% of its GDP on its military, but the outbreak of war with Russia saw its expenditures jump to one-third of economic output.

Other countries from the Middle East and North Africa follow in this tier, with Oman third at 8.11% and Qatar fourth with 5.88%. Rounding out the top seven high spenders are Algeria, Kuwait, and Israel.

RankCountryMilitary Spend% of GDP
1๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ UkraineHigh9.46%
2๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Saudi ArabiaHigh8.19%
3๐Ÿ‡ด๐Ÿ‡ฒ OmanHigh8.11%
4๐Ÿ‡ถ๐Ÿ‡ฆ QatarHigh5.88%
5๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฟ AlgeriaHigh5.70%
6๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ผ KuwaitHigh5.66%
7๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฑ IsraelHigh5.09%
8๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ด JordanMedium4.81%
9๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฒ ArmeniaMedium4.53%
10๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฟ AzerbaijanMedium4.53%
11๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ง LebanonMedium4.01%
12๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ RussiaMedium3.98%
13๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ญ BahrainMedium3.79%
14๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฐ PakistanMedium3.75%
15๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฆ MoroccoMedium3.72%
16๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฟ UzbekistanMedium3.56%
17๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.Medium3.48%
18๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ด ColombiaMedium3.24%
19๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ท GreeceMedium3.15%
20๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฆ NamibiaMedium3.09%
21๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ณ BruneiMedium3.09%
22๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ธ South SudanMedium3.05%
23๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฌ TogoMedium3.03%
24๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฑ MaliMedium2.90%
25๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡บ CubaMedium2.88%
26๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฌ SingaporeMedium2.86%
27๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ผ BotswanaMedium2.86%
28๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฒ MyanmarMedium2.76%
29๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ซ Burkina FasoMedium2.70%
30๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ถ IraqMedium2.69%
31๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท South KoreaMedium2.69%
32๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Republic of CongoMedium2.68%
33๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฉ ChadMedium2.66%
34๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ IndiaMedium2.58%
35๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ณ TunisiaMedium2.58%
36๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡จ EcuadorMedium2.34%
37๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ท IranMedium2.32%
38๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ณ Viet NamMedium2.28%
39๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ญ CambodiaMedium2.26%
40๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ท MauritaniaMedium2.24%
41๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ช NigerMedium2.21%
42๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฎ BurundiMedium2.21%
43๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ท TurkeyMedium2.19%
44๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฑ PolandMedium2.17%
45๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ป LatviaMedium2.14%
46๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡น LithuaniaMedium2.13%
47๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ช EstoniaMedium2.13%
48๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง United KingdomMedium2.12%
49๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡พ UruguayMedium2.11%
50๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ธ SerbiaMedium2.06%
51๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฌ UgandaMedium2.02%
52๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ท CroatiaLow1.97%
53๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ AustraliaLow1.93%
54๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฑ ChileLow1.92%
55๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท FranceLow1.91%
56๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡พ CyprusLow1.90%
57๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ด RomaniaLow1.87%
58๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฌ BulgariaLow1.85%
59๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฟ EswatiniLow1.82%
60๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ด NorwayLow1.81%
61๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ซ Central African RepublicLow1.78%
62๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Sri LankaLow1.77%
63๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น PortugalLow1.77%
64๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ผ TaiwanLow1.76%
65๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ ChinaLow1.72%
66๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ช GeorgiaLow1.71%
67๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฐ SlovakiaLow1.67%
68๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ผ Guinea-BissauLow1.65%
69๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ฌ KyrgyzstanLow1.62%
70๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ณ GuineaLow1.61%
71๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ฎ FinlandLow1.60%
72๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ณ SenegalLow1.58%
73๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ณ HondurasLow1.56%
74๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฆ GabonLow1.56%
75๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฟ MozambiqueLow1.56%
76๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ธ LesothoLow1.56%
77๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ช MontenegroLow1.54%
78๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ฏ FijiLow1.54%
79๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ฒ JamaicaLow1.49%
80๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ด AngolaLow1.48%
81๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น ItalyLow1.48%
82๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡บ HungaryLow1.48%
83๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ด BoliviaLow1.46%
84๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡จ SeychellesLow1.43%
85๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ NetherlandsLow1.41%
86๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฉ SudanLow1.39%
87๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผ RwandaLow1.39%
88๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ต NepalLow1.36%
89๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฐ DenmarkLow1.36%
90๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฑ AlbaniaLow1.34%
91๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ SpainLow1.34%
92๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ญ ThailandLow1.33%
93๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ซ AfghanistanLow1.33%
94๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฟ New ZealandLow1.32%
95๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ CanadaLow1.32%
96๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช GermanyLow1.31%
97๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฐ North MacedoniaLow1.30%
98๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ท BrazilLow1.29%
99๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฟ BelizeLow1.28%
100๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ป El SalvadorLow1.28%
101๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฉ BangladeshLow1.26%
102๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฒ ZambiaLow1.25%
103๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ถ Equatorial GuineaLow1.24%
104๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡พ GuyanaLow1.22%
105๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Cote d'IvoireLow1.22%
106๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌ EgyptLow1.20%
107๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ช PeruLow1.20%
108๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡พ BelarusLow1.18%
109๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช SwedenLow1.17%
110๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ช KenyaLow1.13%
111๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฎ SloveniaLow1.10%
112๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฑ Timor LesteLow1.08%
113๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฟ TanzaniaLow1.05%
114๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฒ CameroonLow1.04%
115๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฏ TajikistanLow1.03%
116๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต JapanLow1.03%
117๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช BelgiumLow1.02%
118๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ท LiberiaLow1.00%
119๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡พ MalaysiaLow0.98%
120๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ญ PhilippinesLow0.96%
121๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡พ ParaguayLow0.95%
122๐Ÿ‡ฝ๐Ÿ‡ฐ KosovoLow0.95%
123๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฆ South AfricaLow0.94%
124๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ผ MalawiLow0.92%
125๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฆ Bosnia and HerzegovinaLow0.84%
126๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ฟ KazakhstanLow0.83%
127๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡น AustriaLow0.78%
128๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฒ GambiaLow0.76%
129๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡น Trinidad & TobagoLow0.75%
130๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฉ IndonesiaLow0.74%
131๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ญ SwitzerlandLow0.73%
132๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Czech RepublicLow0.71%
133๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ด Dominican RepublicLow0.70%
134๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ณ MongoliaLow0.69%
135๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฌ MadagascarLow0.68%
136๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Dem. Rep. of CongoLow0.64%
137๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฌ NigeriaLow0.64%
138๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡น EthiopiaLow0.64%
139๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Sierra LeoneLow0.64%
140๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ท ArgentinaLow0.63%
141๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡บ LuxembourgLow0.61%
142๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ MexicoLow0.61%
143๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฎ NicaraguaLow0.60%
144๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ป Cape VerdeLow0.54%
145๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฏ BeninLow0.54%
146๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡น MaltaLow0.48%
147๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡น GuatemalaLow0.45%
148๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ญ GhanaLow0.43%
149๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฌ Papua New GuineaLow0.38%
150๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฉ MoldovaLow0.36%
151๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ช IrelandLow0.27%
152๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ผ ZimbabweLow0.26%
153๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ช VenezuelaLow0.20%
154๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡น HaitiLow0.17%
155๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡บ MauritiusLow0.16%
156๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ท Costa RicaLow0.00%
157๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ธ IcelandLow0.00%
158๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฆ PanamaLow0.00%

The medium group consists of 44 countries and is led by four nations (Jordan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Lebanon) that all spend more than 4% of their GDP on their militaries. Other familiar countries known to have large military budgets, like Russia, Pakistan, the U.S., India and the UK, are also in this category.

The low spend group has a total of 107 countries, but also contains some surprises. For example, China, France, and Germanyโ€”all in the top 10 countries by absolute military spendโ€”actually have similar amounts of military spend as a percent of GDP as Georgia, Cyprus, and North Macedonia respectively.

At the bottom of the table are countries with either low military importance, or strange technicalities. For example, Mauritius is one of the countries with the lowest military budgets because it doesn’t officially have a standing military, instead relying on two paramilitary forces (a special mobile force and a Coast Guard).

Similarly, Iceland allocates 0% of its GDP towards military spending. In place of a standing army, the country maintains a specialized peacekeeping force, a substantial Coast Guard, and relies on security alliances within NATO, of which it is a member and provides financial support to.

Ranking Defense Spending Per Capita

While the measure above equalizes military spend on economic strength, per-capita military spending shows how much countries allocate while accounting for population size.

On a per-capita basis (again using a five-year average), Qatar leads the ranks with a per-capita spend of $4,564, well-ahead of Israel at $2,535, and Saudi Arabia at $1,928.

RankCountryPer Capita Spend ($)
1๐Ÿ‡ถ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Qatar$4,564
2๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Israel$2,535
3๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Saudi Arabia$1,928
4๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Singapore$1,837
5๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ผ Kuwait$1,815
6๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$1,815
7๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ด Norway$1,438
8๐Ÿ‡ด๐Ÿ‡ฒ Oman$1,254
9๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australia$1,131
10๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ณ Brunei$959
11๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง UK$913
12๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท South Korea$894
13๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ญ Bahrain$863
14๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Denmark$861
15๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท France$811
16๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Finland$801
17๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Netherlands$765
18๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡บ Luxembourg$694
19๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช Sweden$662
20๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ญ Switzerland$647
21๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada$645
22๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ท Greece$629
23๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช Germany$623
24๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฟ New Zealand$610
25๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ช Estonia$535
26๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ผ Taiwan$495
27๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น Italy$494
28๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช Belgium$487
29๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Russia$467
30๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡น Lithuania$463
31๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น Portugal$417
32๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ป Latvia$405
33๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡พ Cyprus$399
34๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Japan$398
35๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Spain$395
36๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡น Austria$393
37๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฑ Poland$359
38๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡พ Uruguay$354
39๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Slovakia$334
40๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ง Lebanon$334
41๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Slovenia$302
42๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Ukraine$302
43๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ท Croatia$294
44๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Chile$292
45๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ด Romania$258
46๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡บ Hungary$248
47๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ช Ireland$235
48๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡จ Seychelles$230
49๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Azerbaijan$226
50๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Algeria$219
51๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Armenia$217
52๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ผ Botswana$215
53๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ด Jordan$207
54๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ท Turkey$199
55๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ด Colombia$197
56๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฌ Bulgaria$194
57๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China$183
58๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡น Malta$175
59๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Czech Republic$175
60๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ท Iran$169
61๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Namibia$159
62๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ถ Iraq$145
63๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡จ Ecuador$138
64๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ช Montenegro$137
65๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ธ Serbia$133
66๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡น Trinidad & Tobago$131
67๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Gabon$124
68๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Morocco$122
69๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ถ Equatorial Guinea$112
70๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡พ Malaysia$109
71๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ท Brazil$107
72๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ญ Thailand$97
73๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡พ Guyana$92
74๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ณ Tunisia$91
75๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ฏ Fiji$83
76๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฐ North Macedonia$83
77๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Kazakhstan$82
78๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ช Peru$81
79๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ช Georgia$80
80๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡พ Belarus$80
81๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Jamaica$77
82๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Albania$76
83๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Eswatini$72
84๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Sri Lanka$69
85๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ท Argentina$66
86๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฟ Belize$60
87๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ Mexico$59
88๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ด Dominican Republic$58
89๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ณ Viet Nam$58
90๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฆ South Africa$56
91๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ป El Salvador$54
92๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฆ Bosnia and Herzegovina$54
93๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ India$53
94๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Republic of Congo$53
95๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡พ Paraguay$52
96๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ด Bolivia$51
97๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฐ Pakistan$49
98๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Uzbekistan$44
99๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ด Angola$43
100๐Ÿ‡ฝ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Kosovo$42
101๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ท Mauritania$42
102๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ณ Honduras$42
103๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌ Egypt$41
104๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ญ Cambodia$36
105๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Myanmar$35
106๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ญ Philippines$33
107๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ณ Mongolia$33
108๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Indonesia$31
109๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฉ Bangladesh$27
110๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฑ Timor Leste$27
111๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Mali$26
112๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ณ Senegal$24
113๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Cote d'Ivoire$23
114๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฌ Togo$21
115๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ช Kenya$21
116๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Kyrgyzstan$20
117๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ซ Burkina Faso$20
118๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ณ Guinea$19
119๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ธ Lesotho$19
120๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ป Cape Verde$19
121๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡น Guatemala$19
122๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฉ Chad$18
123๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ธ South Sudan$18
124๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Sudan$18
125๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Uganda$18
126๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ผ Zimbabwe$17
127๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Zambia$16
128๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡บ Mauritius$16
129๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Cameroon$16
130๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ต Nepal$15
131๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Nigeria$14
132๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Nicaragua$12
133๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ผ Guinea-Bissau$12
134๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฟ Tanzania$12
135๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡บ Cuba$11
136๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผ Rwanda$11
137๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Moldova$11
138๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฌ Papua New Guinea$10
139๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ช Niger$10
140๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฏ Tajikistan$9
141๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ซ Central African Republic$8
142๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Mozambique$8
143๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ญ Ghana$8
144๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฏ Benin$7
145๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฎ Burundi$7
146๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ซ Afghanistan$6
147๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Gambia$6
148๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡น Ethiopia$5
149๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ช Venezuela$5
150๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ผ Malawi$4
151๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Sierra Leone$3
152๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Madagascar$3
153๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Dem. Rep. of Congo$3
154๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ท Liberia$3
155๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡น Haiti$2
156๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ท Costa Rica$0
157๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ธ Iceland$0
158๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฆ Panama$0

Measured this way, we get a perspective of how small defense budgets can be per person, even if the total expenditure is large.

For example, India has the fourth-highest total defense expenditure in 2022, but because of its massive population only sets aside $53 per resident for its military, putting it solidly at the bottom third of the per-capita rankings.

Patterns Revealed By Measuring Military Spend

Changing how we look at a countryโ€™s military budget can reveal a lot more than just looking at absolute numbers.

For example, the Middle East is the region with the highest spenders on defense as a percentage of their GDP, giving us insight into regional security concerns.

Countries from the medium group of military spendingโ€”including parts of Eastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asiaโ€”highlight past or recent conflict zones between neighbors, countries with internal strife, or countries wary of a regional aggressor. Ukraine’s average per capita military spend, for example, was just $122.4 from 2018 to 2021. The next year, it jumped nearly 10 times to $1,018.66 per person after Russia’s invasion.

In fact, European military spending saw its sharpest one-year jump in 30 years as a direct result of the war.

Alongside European anxieties, ongoing tension between China and Taiwan has also contributed to increased military spending in Asia and Oceania. Will these budgets continue their dramatic ascent or will they rise evenly alongside their relative economies in 2023?

Data note: For these comparisons, the creator is calculating five-year averages (using data from 2018-2022) for military spending as a percentage of GDP and per-capita military spending for each country. The military expenditure data is pulled from Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Data for some countries is missing or may vary significantly from official figures. Countries with up to
two years of missing data had averages calculated on the years available, while countries with three or more years of missing data have been removed from this dataset, including: Djibouti, Eritrea, North Korea, Laos, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Turkmenistan, UAE, and Yemen.

Please see SIPRI’s methodologies page for more details on how they collect their data and create estimates.

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