SIPRI 2024: Global Military Spending Hits $2.72 Trillion as the US Crosses $997 Billion

# SIPRI 2024: Global Military Spending Hits $2.72 Trillion as the US Crosses $997 Billion

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released its annual Military Expenditure Database covering 2024. The headline figure is stark: world military spending reached an estimated **$2,718 billion** in 2024, a **9.4% real-terms increase** over 2023 and the steepest year-on-year rise since the end of the Cold War. Spending rose on every continent, and for the first time in years the increase was broad-based rather than driven by a single region.

## How much did the world spend on the military in 2024?

Global military expenditure hit roughly **$2.72 trillion** in 2024 — about **2.5% of world GDP**, or close to $334 for every person on the planet. The 9.4% real increase is the tenth consecutive annual rise, but it is unusual for how widely it was distributed: Europe (including Russia), the Middle East, and Asia all posted significant gains in the same year.

The drivers are familiar: the continuing war in Ukraine, NATO members racing toward and past the 2%-of-GDP pledge, rearmament across the Asia-Pacific, and rising tension in the Middle East.

## The United States: $997 billion and about 37% of the global total

The United States remained, by a wide margin, the largest military spender on Earth. US military expenditure reached an estimated **$997 billion** in 2024 — roughly **37% of the entire world's military spending**, and more than the next several countries combined. That total is up from the $916 billion SIPRI recorded for 2023, reflecting both supplemental appropriations and sustained baseline growth.

To put it in perspective, US military spending alone exceeds the combined defense budgets of the rest of NATO, and is more than three times the size of China's.

## China, Russia, and the rest of the top tier

- **China** remained the second-largest spender, with an estimated **$314 billion** in 2024 — its thirtieth consecutive year of growth, driven by naval expansion, missile forces, and military modernization.
- **Russia** spent an estimated **$149 billion**, a sharp real-terms increase as wartime mobilization pushed military outlays toward a large share of total government spending.
- **India** (~$86 billion) and the **United Kingdom** (~$82 billion) rounded out the upper tier, with European budgets rising fastest in percentage terms as the Ukraine war reshaped the continent's security calculus.

For the full, sortable ranking — including per-capita figures and share of GDP for every country — see our [military spending by country](/military-spending-by-country) page, and individual [country profiles](/country-profiles) for budget histories.

## Why is military spending rising so fast?

Three forces converged in 2024:

1. **The war in Ukraine.** European and Russian spending both surged. Several frontline NATO states now spend well above 2% of GDP, and the alliance is debating higher floors.
2. **The NATO 2% pledge becoming a baseline, not a ceiling.** What was once an aspirational target is increasingly treated as a minimum, pulling dozens of budgets upward at once.
3. **Asia-Pacific and Middle East tension.** China's modernization, regional arms races, and instability in the Gulf all added momentum.

## What this means for 2025 and 2026

The 2024 SIPRI figures are a snapshot that already lags reality. They predate the most consequential event in the current cycle: **Operation Epic Fury**, the US-Iran war that began in February 2026 and has added tens of billions of dollars in direct military costs in a matter of months. They also predate the latest round of NATO increases.

In other words, the $2.72 trillion 2024 total is a floor, not a ceiling — global military spending in 2025 and 2026 is almost certainly higher. Our [live global spending counter](/) and [US-Iran war cost tracker](/us-iran-war) follow those figures in real time.

## Sources & methodology

Figures are drawn from the **SIPRI Military Expenditure Database** (2025 release, covering calendar year 2024). SIPRI figures are estimates, expressed in constant and current US dollars, and are revised as national budget data becomes available. For our full sourcing approach, see our [methodology](/methodology) and [sources](/sources) pages. All figures should be independently verified before citation.