In the recent years, many countries of the world have witnessed an increase in the total military spending. Thanks to the number of civil as well as international wars going on across the globe. In this article, we shall discuss the top 10 countries with the highest military budget.
The following list is based as per the reports of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute of 2016:
10. South Korea
The East Asian country is amongst the top spenders when it comes to military spending. The military budget of the country has always been on the rise. In the year 2016, the country had spent around 36.4 billion dollars for military purposes. This has been increased to around 37 billion dollars in the current year. The military budget of South Korea has always been somewhere close to 2.6 to 2.7 percent of the GDP of the nation. The country is currently focusing on strengthening the air and the missile systems. Besides, the government of the country also has plans to improve research and improve the weapons system of the region.
9. Germany
Next on the list is the European country of Germany. The nation is known to spend around 39.4 billion dollars in its military which represents around 1.2 percent of the total GDP of the nation. In recent years, the defense budget of the country has seen an increase and it has been declared that in the current year, the country is due to spend around 43.5 billion dollars on its defense mechanisms.
8. Japan
Japan is known to spend around 1 percent of its total GDP on the nation’s military. On an average, the country is known to spend somewhere around 27 billion dollars from the year 1952 till until recently in 2016. In 2016, the country spent around 41.2 billion dollars in its military. In order to protect the country from unwanted threats, the government of Japan is known to spend huge sums of money in building its ships, submarines, fighter aircrafts, amongst a host of other military defense equipment. The ever-increasing fleet of submarines is considered to be the biggest military strength of the country.
7. France
Another country which deserves a place on the list of top 10 countries with the highest military spending is that of France. With an expenditure of somewhere around 51 to 55 billion dollars, France is known to spend around 2.1 percent of its GDP on strengthening the military forces. In 2018, the amount is scheduled to increase even more.In fact, it is expected that in the upcoming fiscal year, military and defense will be the only departments which will receive a boost in the total budget spending.
6. India
As of 2016, the emerging economy was spending close to 50 billion dollars on its military, which represents close to 2.5 percent of the total GDP of the country. India is soon poised to take over the other growing economies of the world as the country led by Narendra Singh Modi takes on to increase its military budget. The highest share of India’s military budget goes towards building a strong army base for the country. The fast-growing economy also spends its military budget on the air force and the navy which form an extremely important part of the Indian defense system.
5. The United Kingdom
With an annual spend of around 55 billion dollars, the United Kingdom is a country that spends close to 2 percent of its GDP on the military and defense. The spending on defense has only been increasing in the region. The average military expenditure in the United Kingdom was somewhere around 51 billion dollars in between the years 1950 and 2016. After the world events such as the United States 9/11 attacks and the 2003 Iraqi conflict, the military spending in the region has been on the rise.
4. Russia
Spending close to 5.4 percent of the total GDP on its military, Russia is fourth when it comes to the countries with the highest military budget. Russia has been increasing its spend on the military and will soon go ahead of some of the countries as far as its military spend is concerned. The country has been known to spend as much as 66 billion dollars in the last fiscal. Once on a decline, the government of the country has taken appropriate measures in order to improve the total military spending. The leaders’ belief that in order to achieve success in the growing world environment, an adequate amount of military spending is a must.
3. Saudi Arabia
As per the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute of 2016, Saudi Arabia had spent around 66.4 billion dollars in strengthening its military, which makes it third on the list of the top 10 countries with the highest military budget. The amount accounts for nearly 5.4 percent of the total GDP of the country’s economy.The percentage of GDP which Saudi Arabia spends on the military is expected to increase in the year 2017. The country is at war with Yemen and Iran due to which the government of the nation is planning to increase the total military defense. Most of the military spending in the country is known to be made for equipment, weaponry, ammunition, naval base establishment, amongst other areas.
2. China
The most populous country in the world surely deserves a place in the list of top 10 countries known to have the highest military budgets. Spending around a whopping 215 billion dollars, China allocates around 1.9 percent of its GDP to the total military spending. As per some reports, the number is going to increase by 7 percent in the coming year. As the economy of the country is ever expanding, the Asian country has been making a budget to modernize its existing military forces and other resources. It is often reported that the budget of the economy is, in fact, larger and much more than is known to the world.
1. United States
The United States of America undoubtedly tops the list of the top 10 countries with the highest military budget in the world. The nation is known to spend around 596 billion dollars on its military, which accounts for 3.3 percent of the total GDP of the nation. No other country in the world stands even close to this massive figure. This is not a recent trend as the defense budget of the world’s most powerful country has always dominated the world stage. The major part of the military budget is spent on operations, maintenance, as well as personnel of the armed forces. A few people often wonder about the huge military expenditure of the United States of America. The reason behind this is the commitment which the nation has towards protecting countries in Asia, Middle East, and others. It also needs to protect itself from its arch rivals across the globe.
Thus, the above are the countries which have the highest military budgets in the world. As seen above, the United States of America dominates the world stage as far as the military budget is concerned. However, the other growing countries of the world are soon catching up!
I’m Hina Khan, working as a writer at Worldblaze.in blog. I love dancing and listening punjabi music. Here I’m sharing all the interesting stuffs that will definitely entertain you.