In 2025, the world spent $2,887 billion on the military. Nearly $2.9 trillion. A new record. The 11th consecutive year of growth.
Ending extreme poverty worldwide would cost roughly $300 billion.
The world spends almost 10 times more on weapons than it would cost to ensure no human on Earth lives in poverty.
The numbers in context:
- $352 per person on Earth was spent on the military in 2025
- Global military spending is 750 times the entire UN regular budget
- It is 13 times all development aid provided by wealthy nations in 2024
- The global military burden — share of world GDP spent on defence — rose to 2.5%
Who spends the most?
The top 5 account for 60% of all global military spending:
- United States: $997 billion (2024) — more than the next 10 countries combined
- China: $314 billion — growing 7% per year
- Russia: $149 billion — up 38% in one year, doubled since 2015
- Germany: $88.5 billion — now Central and Western Europe's biggest spender for the first time since reunification
- India: 5th largest, overtaken by Germany in 2024
The sharpest increases are in Europe.
European military spending surged 83% over the last decade — the largest regional increase anywhere. In 2024 alone, Europe's spending rose 17%. Every European country increased its military budget except Malta. Poland's spending hit 4.2% of GDP — more than double NATO's 2% guideline.
Israel's spending jumped 65% in one year — the steepest annual rise since the Six-Day War in 1967.
Ukraine now spends 34% of its entire GDP on the military — the highest military burden of any country on Earth. All of Ukraine's tax revenue goes to defence.
The UN Secretary-General's response was blunt:
The world is spending far more on waging war than building peace. Redirecting even a fraction of current military spending could fund education for every student in low-income countries, eliminate child malnutrition globally, and bring the world closer to the Sustainable Development Goals.
But the trajectory is clear. Over 100 countries raised their military spending in 2025. The 11th year in a row. And there is no sign of it stopping.