Countries with the Biggest Military Budgets 2018
Key Findings
About This Dataset
Countries with the Biggest Military Budgets 2018United States (682.5), China (232.5) and Saudi Arabia (74.6) take the top three. Across the twenty shown, values run from 682.5 down to 11.5, a spread of 671.0. Most of that spread sits between first and second alone (450.0 of 671.0), so United States stands apart from the rest of the table. No other country in the table reaches half the leading figure of 682.5. United States stood at 646.8 in 2017, so its figure rose by 35.7 over the year. United States also came first in 2017. Of the 20 in this table that also reported in 2017, 16 recorded a higher figure than the year before and 4 a lower one. The largest single move was United States, from 646.8 to 682.5. The chart shows the twenty highest of 158 reporting countries, so it describes the top of the distribution rather than the world average.
Data Insights
Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart
Methodology & source
- Data source
- World Bank
- Coverage
- 20 entities · 2018 · 20 observations
- Measure
- Military Spending (USD Billion)
- Last updated
- 7 September 2026
- Compiled by
- The ANYSTAT team, from the source above
- 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 2018.
Data Sources & References
All external sources cited in this dataset
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