Joint military Exercises

 The world's most powerful militaries and their   Budgets

With the United States, Russia, China and many other countries all spending hundreds of billions of dollars on their militaries each year, it’s hard to know which nation has the biggest military budget. This list of the world’s most powerful militaries and their budgets will give you an idea of who spends the most money on their military, but also show you that there are other factors to consider besides just the money spent.

United States

In 2016, the United States spent $547 billion on defense. The United States is the only country to have had a military presence in Afghanistan for more than ten years. The United States is also one of two countries to be involved in military action in Iraq. China, which has a population four times that of the United States, spends less than half as much on its military budget at $216 billion. Russia, who shares a border with Afghanistan, spends even less at $69 billion. As of 2014, it had not been reported how much Russia was spending on its military but estimates are between $70-85 billion. With the recent annexation of Crimea and invasion into Eastern Ukraine by Russian troops, Putin’s government will likely find itself raising this number.

China

With a military budget of $146 billion, China is the second-largest spender in the world. The People's Liberation Army, which reports to the Communist Party, has 1.6 million active duty personnel and another 2 million reservists. The PLA ground forces are equipped with tanks, armored vehicles, missiles and artillery that can be deployed near its coasts or borders; China also has one of the largest navies in the world. It spends about $10 billion annually on defense research and development as well as technological innovation.  Russia: With an annual military budget of more than $80 billion, Russia is the third-largest spender in the world.

Russia

Considering these dynamics in comparison with Moscow’s defense spending in previous years—roughly 300 billion rubles ($5 billion) per month—and the fact that the original defense budget in 2022 was 3.85 trillion rubles ($63.6 billion), the true amount for Russian defense spending in 2022 may well reach as much as 5.5 trillion rubles ($90.9 billion) by the end of the year.

India

In 2022–23, the IN has been allocated a share of INR 47,590.99 crores as a capital outlay in comparison to INR 33,253.55 crores from the previous year's budget. The numbers reveal an increase of 43.11 percent in the capital outlay in 2022-23 in comparison to the allotted capital outlay for the Indian Navy in 2021-22.

France

The proposed €43.9 billion ($42.8 billion) for the French military represents a 36% increase over the 2017 budget and a 7.4% increase over 2022 funds. The €3 billion add for 2023 amounts to nearly twice the year-over-year increases seen in the past couple of years, officials noted during a Tuesday press briefing.

United Kingdom

Truss had promised during her leadership campaign to lift defence spending from 2.1% of GDP to 3% by 2030, comfortably above a commitment made by Boris Johnson in June to increase it to 2.5% by the end of the decade.Wallace said Truss’s promise would be worth billions more to the military. “On current forecast, that’s roughly a defence budget of £100bn in 2029-30. We’re currently on £48bn. So that’s the difference. In eight years, that’s a huge amount,”.

Japan

TOKYO -- Japan's defense budget is expected to exceed 6 trillion yen ($43 billion), more than 1% of gross domestic product, for fiscal 2023 as the country hastens to improve its defense capabilities in the face of growing geopolitical risks. The Ministry of Defense finalized its budget request on Wednesday.

South Korea

South Korea's Ministry of National Defense (MND) has announced a 2023 defence budget proposal of KRW57. 1 trillion (USD42. 1 billion). It said the new expenditure is a 4.6% increase over the allocation in 2022.

Germany

Military expenditures data from SIPRI are derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces; defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects; paramilitary forces, if these are judged to be trained and equipped for military operations; and military space activities. Such expenditures include military and civil personnel, including retirement pensions of military personnel and social services for personnel; operation and maintenance; procurement; military research and development; and military aid (in the military expenditures of the donor country).

Germany military spending/defense budget for 2020 was $52.76B, a 7.67% increase from 2019.

Germany military spending/defense budget for 2019 was $49.01B, a 5.57% increase from 2018.

Germany military spending/defense budget for 2018 was $46.42B, a 9.98% increase from 2017.

Germany military spending/defense budget for 2017 was $42.21B, a 5.91% increase from 2016.

Saudi Arabia

Military expenditures data from SIPRI are derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces; defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects; paramilitary forces, if these are judged to be trained and equipped for military operations; and military space activities. Such expenditures include military and civil personnel, including retirement pensions of military personnel and social services for personnel; operation and maintenance; procurement; military research and development; and military aid (in the military expenditures of the donor country).

Saudi Arabia military spending/defense budget for 2020 was $57.52B, a 7.15% decline from 2019.

Saudi Arabia military spending/defense budget for 2019 was $61.95B, a 16.82% decline from 2018.

Saudi Arabia military spending/defense budget for 2018 was $74.48B, a 5.79% increase from 2017.

Saudi Arabia military spending/defense budget for 2017 was $70.40B, a 10.57% increase from 2016.