Ranked: Military Spending Growth by Country in 2025

Key Takeaways

• Spain and Norway increased military spending by roughly 50% in 2025, the fastest growth among the world’s top defense spenders.
• Europe dominates the rankings as NATO members accelerate rearmament following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• The U.S., UK, and Israel were the only top-25 military spenders to reduce defense spending in 2025.

Europe’s military buildup accelerated sharply in 2025.

Among the world’s 25 largest defense spenders, Spain and Norway led annual spending growth with increases of roughly 50%, while Germany, Poland, Sweden, and Canada also posted gains exceeding 20%.

This graphic ranks the world’s largest military spenders by the real year-over-year change in defense expenditure between 2024 and 2025, using data from the SIPRI Military Expenditure Database.

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