Countries with the Biggest Military Budgets 2020

Source:  World Bank

Countries with the Biggest Military Budgets 2020

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Key Findings

🏆
United States leads in Military Spending (USD Billion) with 778.40 in 2020.
📊
Average Military Spending (USD Billion) in 2020: 84.65  ·  median: 39.50.
↔️
Gap in 2020: United States is 76.3× larger than Pakistan.

About This Dataset

Countries with the Biggest Military Budgets 2020
Countries ranked by military spending (USD billion) in 2020, using World Bank figures for the 154 countries that reported that year. United States leads on 778.4, ahead of China (258.0) and India (72.9). Military spending in US dollars, on the SIPRI definition, covering armed forces, defence ministries, paramilitary forces and military pensions. Several large spenders publish little detail, and China's figure in particular is an estimate.
Analysis

United States (778.4), China (258.0) and India (72.9) take the top three. Across the twenty shown, values run from 778.4 down to 10.2, a spread of 768.2. Most of that spread sits between first and second alone (520.4 of 768.2), so United States stands apart from the rest of the table. No other country in the table reaches half the leading figure of 778.4. United States stood at 734.3 in 2019, so its figure rose by 44.1 over the year. United States also came first in 2019. Of the 20 in this table that also reported in 2019, 15 recorded a higher figure than the year before and 4 a lower one. The largest single move was United States, from 734.3 to 778.4. The chart shows the twenty highest of 154 reporting countries, so it describes the top of the distribution rather than the world average.

Data Insights

Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart

Admin
⬡
Data Points
20
20 categories  ·  1 year
↑
Top Value
778.40
United States
Military Spending (USD Billion) · 2020
◈
Metrics
1
Military Spending (USD Billion)
◷
Period
2020
Single year snapshot

Methodology & source

Data source
World Bank
Coverage
20 entities · 2020 · 20 observations
Measure
Military Spending (USD Billion)
Last updated
7 September 2026
Compiled by
The ANYSTAT team, from the source above
How the figures are calculated
  • Values use the measure and unit named on this page. Consult the dataset description and cited source for coverage, definitions and any unit conversions. Displayed values may be rounded for readability.
  • Entities are ranked highest-first on their value in 2020.

Rankings & Full Data

20 records · Military Spending (USD Billion) · ranked by 2020

✓ 20 sourced
# Category 2020 Source
🥇 United States 778.40
🥈 China 258
🥉 India 72.90
4 Saudi Arabia 64.60
5 Russia 61.70
6 United Kingdom 58.30
7 France 53.40
8 Germany 53.30
9 Japan 51.40
10 South Korea 46.10
11 Italy 32.90
12 Australia 27.30
13 Canada 23.10
14 Israel 21.80
15 Brazil 19.60
16 Spain 17.40
17 Turkey 15.80
18 Poland 13.70
19 Netherlands 13.10
20 Pakistan 10.20

Data Sources & References

All external sources cited in this dataset

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