Countries by Total Military Expenditure 2026
About This Dataset
Countries by Total Military Expenditure 2026
Countries ranked by total military spending in absolute terms in 2026, measured in billions of USD according to SIPRI Military Expenditure Database preliminary 2026 estimates. Global military spending surpassed $2.4 trillion in 2025 for the first time in history — driven by NATO members increasing defence budgets in response to the Russia-Ukraine war, China's sustained military modernisation programme, and Middle East conflicts. The United States alone accounts for approximately 37% of total global military spending.
Analysis
United States heads the table on 916, ahead of China (315) and Russia (145) in Military Expenditure (Billion USD) in 2026. 840 separates the highest figure (916) from the lowest (76). Most of that gap is between first and second alone (601 of 840); the other 7 are separated by just 239. Places 3 to 8 are close together, spanning 145 to 76.
Source:
Wikipedia
Key Findings
🏆
United States leads in Military Expenditure (Billion USD) with 916 in 2026.
📊
Average Military Expenditure (Billion USD) in 2026: 224 · median: 89.
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Gap in 2026: United States is 12.1× larger than Ukraine.
Data Insights
Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart
Methodology & source
- Data source
- Wikipedia
- Coverage
- 8 entities · 2026 · 8 observations
- Measure
- Military Expenditure (Billion USD)
- Last updated
- 6 September 2026
- Compiled by
- The ANYSTAT team, from the source above
How the figures are calculated
- Values are shown as reported by the source. Nothing is rescaled, rebased or converted — the only changes are thousand separators and decimals shown to two places.
- Entities are ranked highest-first on their value in 2026.
Data Sources & References
All external sources cited in this dataset
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