The United States Spends More on Defense than the Next 9 Countries Combined
Defense spending by the United States accounted for nearly 40 percent of all military expenditures by countries around the world in 2024, according to recently released figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). In 2024, the United States spent $997 billion on defense, which is more than the next nine countries’ spending combined. In comparison, China, which is the second biggest defense spender, spent $314 billion on military expenditures in 2024.
SIPRI’s definition of defense spending is broader than the definitions that are most frequently used by federal policymakers and organizations such as the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). CBO reported total discretionary defense outlays of $850 billion in 2024, $147 billion less than SIPRI’s estimate. SIPRI’s total is higher in large part because they include payments for military retirement and some expenditures for international affairs in their total; such spending is located elsewhere in the federal budget. Nonetheless, the SIPRI comparison provides useful insights on the sheer scale of U.S. defense spending relative to other nations.
Although the United States spends more on defense than any other country, the Congressional Budget Office projects that defense spending as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) will decline over the coming years — from 2.9 percent of GDP in 2025 to 2.4 percent in 2035. That is proportionately lower than the 50-year average level of defense spending of 4.2 percent of GDP.
Further, domestic defense priorities continue to face budgetary restraints as the cost to service our national debt grows. In 2024 alone, the United States spent $881 billion on debt interest payments — an amount that surpassed domestic military spending by $31 billion. Still, defense spending accounts for a sizable portion of the federal budget and the United States vastly outspends other nations. In determining the appropriate level of military expenditures in the future, as with other categories of spending, it will be important to evaluate whether it is being used effectively and how it fits in with other national priorities.
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