Ukraine has made it into the top 10 countries with the most expensive militaries in the world
Global military spending reached $2.6 trillion in 2025, and countries around the world allocated an average of 2.01% of their GDP to defense. These figures are cited in a report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
Ukraine ranked 10th in the world in terms of defense budget size, spending $44.45 billion on military needs.
At the same time, defense spending accounted for 21.19% of GDP, the highest ratio among all countries in the world.
Experts note that during wartime, the share of military spending in GDP rises sharply, placing an additional burden on the civilian economy.
The United States remains the world’s most expensive military, having spent $921.02 billion on defense in 2025. This is more than three times China’s official military budget, which ranked second at $251.29 billion.
The top five countries with the largest defense budgets also included:
- the U.S. – $921.02 billion;
- China – $251.29 billion;
- Russia – $161.18 billion;
- Germany – $107.31 billion;
- the United Kingdom – $94.26 billion.
India, Saudi Arabia, France, Japan, and Ukraine also made the top ten.
According to the study, some countries spend a significantly larger share of their economies on defense than the global leaders in absolute terms. In particular, Algeria allocates 8.75% of its GDP to military needs, Israel – 6.5%, and Russia – 6.34%, while the United States allocates 3.01% and China – 1.3%.
Analysts emphasize that the growth of defense budgets remains a global trend, as the world’s leading nations continue to increase funding for their armed forces amid a deteriorating security situation.
Business Insider reports this, citing a report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, which contains data on the defense budgets of nearly every country based on figures for 2025.
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