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Ranked: Top 10 Countries by Military Spending

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Visualization of the top countries by military spending in the world

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The Top 10 Countries by Military Spending in 2021

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has continued, military spending and technology has come under the spotlight as the world tracked Western arms shipments and watched how HIMAR rocket launchers and other weaponry affected the conflict.

But developing, exporting, and deploying military personnel and weaponry costs nations hundreds of billions every year. In 2021, global military spending reached $2.1 trillion, rising for its seventh year in a row.

Using data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), this visualization shows which countries spent the most on their military in 2021, along with their overall share of global military spending.

Which Countries Spend the Most on Military?

The United States was the top nation in terms of military expenditure, spending $801 billion to make up almost 38% of global military spending in 2021. America has been the top military spending nation since SIPRI began tracking in 1949, making up more than 30% of the world’s military spending for the last two decades.

U.S. military spending increased year-over-year by $22.3 billion, and the country’s total for 2021 was more than every other country in the top 10 combined.

CountryMilitary Spending (2017)Military Spending (2018)Military Spending (2019)Military Spending (2020)Military Spending (2021)
🇺🇸 U.S. $646.8B$682.5B$734.3B$778.4B$800.7B
🇨🇳 China$210.4B$232.5B$240.3B$258.0B$293.4B
🇮🇳 India$64.6B$66.3B$71.5B$72.9B$76.6B
🇬🇧 United Kingdom$51.6B$55.7B$56.9B$60.7B$68.4B
🇷🇺 Russia$66.9B$61.6B$65.2B$61.7B$65.9B

The next top military spender in 2021 was China, which spent $293.4 billion and made up nearly 14% of global military spend. While China’s expenditure is still less than half of America’s, the country has increased its military spending for 27 years in a row.

In fact, China has the largest total of active military personnel, and the country’s military spending has more than doubled over the last decade.

While Russia was only the fifth top nation by military spending at $65.9 billion in 2021, it was among the higher ranking nations in terms of military spending as a share of GDP. Russia military expenditures amounted to 4.1% of its GDP, and among the top 10 spending nations, was only beaten by Saudi Arabia whose spending was 6.6% of its GDP.

Military Collaboration Since the Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February has resulted in seismic geopolitical shifts, kicking off a cascade of international military shipments and collaboration between nations. The security assistance just sent by the U.S. to Ukraine has totaled $8.2 billion since the start of the war, and has shown how alliances can help make up for some domestic military spending in times of conflict.

Similarly, Russia and China have deepened their relationship, sharing military intelligence and technology along with beginning joint military exercises at the end of August, alongside other nations like India, Belarus, Mongolia, and Tajikistan.

Since China’s breakthrough in hypersonic missile flight a year ago, Russia has now been testing its own versions of the technology, with Putin mentioning Russia’s readiness to export weaponry he described as, “years, or maybe even decades ahead of their foreign counterparts”.

Sanctions and Energy Exports: New Weapons in Modern Warfare

Along with advanced weaponry, sanctions and energy commodities have become new tools of modern cold warfare. As Western economic sanctions attempted to cripple Russia’s economy following its invasion, Russian gas and oil supplies have been limited and forced to be paid in rubles in retaliation.

Global trade has been turned into a new battlefield with offshore assets and import dependencies as the attack vectors. Along with these, cyberattacks and cybersecurity are an increasingly complex, obscure, and important part of national military and security.

Whether or not Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ends in 2022, the rise in geopolitical tensions and conflict this year will almost certainly result in a global increase in military spending.

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Politics

Visualizing the BRICS Expansion in 4 Charts

We provide a data-driven overview of how the recent BRICS expansion will grow the group’s influence and reach.

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Visualizing the BRICS Expansion in 4 Charts

BRICS is an association of five major countries including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Distinguished by their emerging economies, the group has sought to improve diplomatic coordination, reform global financial institutions, and ultimately serve as a counterbalance to Western hegemony.

On Aug. 24, 2023, BRICS announced that it would formally accept six new members at the start of 2024: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

In this graphic, we provide a data-driven overview of how the BRICS expansion will grow the group’s influence and reach.

Share of Global GDP

Because most of the new BRICS members are considered to be developing economies, their addition to the group will not have a major impact on its overall share of GDP.

The following table includes GDP projections for 2023, courtesy of the IMF.

Original BRICS
Member
CountryGDP (USD billions)Share of Global (%)
Yes🇧🇷 Brazil$2,0812.0%
Yes🇷🇺 Russia$2,0632.0%
Yes🇮🇳 India$3,7373.6%
Yes🇨🇳 China$19,37418.4%
Yes🇿🇦 South Africa$3990.4%
No🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia$1,0621.0%
No🇮🇷 Iran$3680.4%
No🇪🇹 Ethiopia$1560.1%
No🇪🇬 Egypt$3870.4%
No🇦🇷 Argentina$6410.6%
No🇦🇪 UAE$4990.5%
-BRICS Total$30,76729.3%
-Rest of World$74,36270.7%

The original six BRICS members are expected to have a combined GDP of $27.6 trillion in 2023, representing 26.3% of the global total. With the new members included, expected GDP climbs slightly to $30.8 trillion, enough for a 29.3% global share.

Share of Global Population

BRICS has always represented a major chunk of global population thanks to China and India, which are the only countries with over 1 billion people.

The two biggest populations being added to BRICS are Ethiopia (126.5 million) and Egypt (112.7 million). See the following table for population data from World Population Review, which is dated as of 2023.

Original BRICS
Member
CountryPopulationShare of Global (%)
Yes🇧🇷 Brazil216,422,4462.7%
Yes🇷🇺 Russia144,444,3591.8%
Yes🇮🇳 India1,428,627,66317.8%
Yes🇨🇳 China1,425,671,35217.7%
Yes🇿🇦 South Africa60,414,4950.8%
No🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia36,947,0250.5%
No🇮🇷 Iran89,172,7671.1%
No🇪🇹 Ethiopia126,527,0601.6%
No🇪🇬 Egypt112,716,5981.4%
No🇦🇷 Argentina45,773,8840.6%
No🇦🇪 UAE9,516,8710.1%
-BRICS Total3.7 billion46.0%
-Rest of World4.3 billion54.0%

It’s possible that BRICS could eventually surpass 50% of global population, as many more countries have expressed their desire to join.

Share of Oil Production

Although the world is trying to move away from fossil fuels, the global oil market is still incredibly large—and BRICS is set to play a much bigger role in it. This is mostly due to the admission of Saudi Arabia, which alone accounts for 12.9% of global oil production.

Based on 2022 figures from the Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy, BRICS’ share of oil production will grow from 20.4% to 43.1%.

Original BRICS
Member
CountryThousand Barrels
per Day
Share of Global (%)
Yes🇧🇷 Brazil3,1073.3%
Yes🇷🇺 Russia11,20211.9%
Yes🇮🇳 India7370.8%
Yes🇨🇳 China4,1114.4%
Yes🇿🇦 South Africa00.0%
No🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia12,13612.9%
No🇮🇷 Iran3,8224.1%
No🇪🇹 Ethiopia00.0%
No🇪🇬 Egypt6130.7%
No🇦🇷 Argentina7060.8%
No🇦🇪 UAE4,0204.3%
-BRICS Total40,45443.1%
-Rest of World53,39456.9%

It’s worth noting that China has been pushing for oil trade to be denominated in yuan, and that Saudi Arabia’s acceptance into BRICS could bolster this ambition, potentially shifting the dynamics of global oil trade.

Share of Global Exports

The last metric included in our graphic is global exports, which is based on 2022 data from the World Trade Organization. We can see that the BRICS expansion will grow the group’s share of global exports (merchandise trade) to 25.1%, up from 20.2%.

Original BRICS
Member
CountryExports (USD billions)Share of Global (%)
Yes🇧🇷 Brazil3341.3%
Yes🇷🇺 Russia5322.1%
Yes🇮🇳 India4531.8%
Yes🇨🇳 China3,59414.4%
Yes🇿🇦 South Africa1230.5%
No🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia4101.6%
No🇮🇷 Iran730.3%
No🇪🇹 Ethiopia3.90.02%
No🇪🇬 Egypt490.2%
No🇦🇷 Argentina880.4%
No🇦🇪 UAE5992.4%
-BRICS Total6,25925.1%
-Rest of World18,64674.9%

Unsurprisingly, China is the world’s largest exporter. Major exporters that are not a part of BRICS include the U.S. (8.3%), Germany (6.6%), the Netherlands (3.9%), and Japan (3.0%).

Who Else Wants to Join?

According to Reuters, there are over 40 countries that have expressed interest in joining BRICS. A smaller group of 16 countries have actually applied for membership, though, and this list includes Algeria, Cuba, Indonesia, Palestine, and Vietnam.

As the group grows in size, differing opinions and priorities among its members could create tensions in the future. For example, India and China have had numerous border disputes in recent years, while Brazil’s newly elected President has sought to “kickstart a new era of relations” with the U.S.

One thing that is certain, however, is that a new acronym for the group will be needed very soon.

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