Which country has the highest % of GDP?

Ukraine has the highest % of GDP in 2023, at 36.7%, followed by Lebanon (8.91%) and Algeria (8.17%).

Which country has the lowest % of GDP?

Haiti has the lowest % of GDP in 2023, at 0.05%.

What is the median % of GDP across countries?

The median is 1.58% across the 148 countries with data in 2023.

Where does this defense spending by country data come from?

Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: SIPRI Military Expenditure Database - SIPRI; Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Military Expenditure Database; SIPRI Military Expenditure Database - expenses in US$ 1988-2020; SIPRI Military Expenditure Database - expenses as share of GDP.

Country rankings

Defense Spending by Country

Name: Defense Spending by Country
Creator: Rankodex

Ukraine has the highest % of GDP in 2023 (36.7%), followed by Lebanon (8.91%) and Algeria (8.17%). Haiti has the lowest (0.05%).

Military152 countries · 4 metricsUpdated Sep 15, 2025Original page

5 sources

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Year

148 of 235 countries

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% of GDP, 2023

Darker means higher. Click a place to highlight it.

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Ranking

Highest first: the first 15 and last 5 of 148 countries.

Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →

Each dot is one country; the lines mark the median and the middle half.

Median

1.58%

Middle half 0.93% – 2.38%

Average

2.19%

148 countries

Highest

36.7%

Ukraine

Lowest

0.05%

Haiti

Over time · 2019–2023

The top 5 in 2023, against the median.

Median of all countries
Ukraine
Lebanon
Algeria
Saudi Arabia
South Sudan

Data

Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.

149 countries · # = rank by % of GDP

#
1	Ukraine	36.7%	64.8B	$1,762	58.2%
2	Lebanon	8.91%	241.3M	$45	—
3	Algeria	8.17%	18.3B	$401	19.3%
4	Saudi Arabia	7.09%	75.8B	$2,052	24.0%
5	South Sudan	6.26%	1.1B	$97	8.64%
6	Russia	5.86%	109.5B	$758	16.1%
7	Armenia	5.45%	1.3B	$479	20.0%
8	Oman	5.4%	5.9B	$1,260	20.7%
9	Israel	5.32%	27.5B	$2,997	14.6%
10	Jordan	4.91%	2.5B	$216	14.5%
11	Kuwait	4.9%	7.8B	$1,799	9.45%
12	Azerbaijan	4.6%	3.6B	$342	14.7%
13	Burkina Faso	4.01%	826.4M	$36	15.1%
13	Togo	4.01%	276.3M	$31	12.7%
15	Poland	3.83%	31.6B	$772	8.12%
15	Mali	3.83%	784.5M	$34	14.2%
17	Myanmar	3.79%	2.5B	$46	20.7%
18	Burundi	3.66%	147.3M	$11	10.2%
19	Morocco	3.64%	5.2B	$137	11.1%
20	Kyrgyzstan	3.62%	464.6M	$69	10.5%
21	United States	3.36%	916B	$2,694	9.06%
22	Greece	3.23%	7.7B	$748	6.57%
23	Bahrain	3.11%	1.4B	$931	10.8%
24	Brunei	2.97%	448.9M	$991	10.2%
25	Chad	2.91%	372.4M	$20	15.3%
26	Colombia	2.87%	10.7B	$206	8.31%
26	Estonia	2.87%	1.2B	$899	6.77%
28	Serbia	2.85%	2.1B	$299	6.42%
29	South Korea	2.81%	47.9B	$926	11.1%
30	Pakistan	2.8%	8.5B	$35	14.5%
31	Namibia	2.74%	338.2M	$130	7.48%
32	Lithuania	2.72%	2.2B	$795	6.93%
33	Singapore	2.66%	13.2B	$2,195	18.0%
34	Mauritania	2.55%	277.2M	$57	9.61%
35	Botswana	2.53%	511.9M	$191	7.83%
36	India	2.44%	83.6B	$59	8.15%
37	Finland	2.42%	7.3B	$1,325	4.44%
38	Tunisia	2.36%	1.2B	$97	7.05%
39	Ecuador	2.3%	2.7B	$150	6.06%
39	Liberia	2.3%	37.2M	$7	3.51%
41	Central African Republic	2.29%	62.3M	$11	12.7%
42	Latvia	2.27%	1B	$571	5.63%
43	United Kingdom	2.26%	74.9B	$1,106	5.15%
44	Taiwan	2.17%	16.6B	$694	13.6%
45	Guinea	2.13%	504.5M	$36	13.8%
45	Hungary	2.13%	4.4B	$429	4.41%
47	Cambodia	2.09%	668M	$39	7.71%
48	Iraq	2.07%	5.1B	$112	4.15%
48	Niger	2.07%	331.6M	$12	10.2%
50	Iran	2.06%	10.3B	$115	13.5%
50	France	2.06%	61.3B	$947	3.57%
52	Slovakia	2.02%	2.7B	$460	4.19%
53	Republic of the Congo	2%	284.7M	$47	8.89%
53	Uruguay	2%	1.6B	$465	6.72%
55	Uganda	1.98%	976.7M	$20	9.58%
56	Denmark	1.95%	8.1B	$1,378	4.1%
57	Australia	1.92%	32.3B	$1,223	5.06%
58	Bulgaria	1.85%	1.9B	$287	5.02%
59	Cyprus	1.82%	566.9M	$450	4.62%
60	Belarus	1.8%	1.4B	$148	50.6%
61	Croatia	1.78%	1.4B	$359	3.9%
62	Albania	1.74%	397.6M	$140	5.62%
63	Mozambique	1.73%	376.4M	$11	5.63%
64	Seychelles	1.71%	35.9M	$333	4.43%
65	North Macedonia	1.7%	266.6M	$128	4.7%
66	Georgia	1.68%	504.6M	$135	5.54%
67	China	1.67%	296.4B	$208	4.97%
68	Sri Lanka	1.64%	1.2B	$53	7.02%
69	Chile	1.63%	5.5B	$280	6.06%
69	Montenegro	1.63%	114.5M	$183	3.74%
71	Italy	1.61%	35.5B	$604	3.04%
71	Romania	1.61%	5.6B	$282	4.37%
71	Norway	1.61%	8.7B	$1,584	4%
74	Equatorial Guinea	1.59%	162M	$95	7.53%
75	Honduras	1.57%	539.8M	$51	5.86%
75	Eswatini	1.57%	67.8M	$56	4.72%
77	Lesotho	1.54%	34M	$15	2.73%
78	Netherlands	1.53%	16.6B	$944	3.39%
79	Germany	1.52%	66.8B	$802	3.08%
79	Czechia	1.52%	5.1B	$482	3.3%
79	Portugal	1.52%	4.2B	$412	3.44%
82	Spain	1.51%	23.7B	$499	3.21%
83	Turkey	1.5%	15.8B	—	—
84	Senegal	1.47%	448.6M	$25	5.5%
84	Sweden	1.47%	8.8B	$825	3.06%
86	Guinea-Bissau	1.46%	25.3M	$12	6.41%
87	Bolivia	1.39%	644.3M	$52	4.2%
88	Slovenia	1.34%	907.5M	$428	2.83%
89	Angola	1.33%	1.3B	$35	5.53%
90	Fiji	1.32%	72.5M	$77	4.77%
91	Zambia	1.3%	377.2M	$18	4.69%
92	Canada	1.29%	27.2B	$702	3.12%
93	El Salvador	1.28%	453.7M	$71	4.66%
94	Rwanda	1.27%	178.6M	$13	4.55%
95	Timor-Leste	1.26%	55.1M	$41	3.21%
96	Philippines	1.25%	5.5B	$47	5.02%
97	Tajikistan	1.22%	139.5M	$14	3.78%
97	New Zealand	1.22%	3B	$579	2.91%
97	Jamaica	1.22%	230.6M	$82	4.06%
100	Belgium	1.21%	7.6B	$653	2.22%
101	Japan	1.2%	50.2B	$407	2.82%
102	Thailand	1.17%	5.8B	$80	4.92%
103	DR Congo	1.16%	794.2M	$8	6.96%
104	Tanzania	1.15%	905.1M	$13	6.03%
104	Gabon	1.15%	265.1M	$109	7.27%
106	Peru	1.12%	3B	$87	4.92%
107	Brazil	1.08%	22.9B	$106	2.24%
107	Nepal	1.08%	418.9M	$14	4.08%
109	Bangladesh	1.02%	4.2B	$24	8.04%
110	Malawi	1.01%	135.3M	$7	3.96%
111	Malaysia	0.93%	3.9B	$114	4.11%
111	Cameroon	0.93%	456.1M	$16	5.63%
113	Kenya	0.91%	999.5M	$18	4.11%
113	Paraguay	0.91%	397.9M	$58	3.79%
115	Ivory Coast	0.89%	681.5M	$24	3.97%
115	Trinidad and Tobago	0.89%	240.7M	$157	2.82%
117	Egypt	0.87%	3.2B	$28	4.15%
118	Austria	0.84%	4.4B	$492	1.63%
119	Belize	0.82%	26.5M	$64	3.58%
120	Nigeria	0.81%	3.2B	$14	5.52%
120	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0.81%	216.7M	$68	1.93%
122	Ethiopia	0.79%	1.2B	$10	7.54%
123	Luxembourg	0.75%	662.5M	$1,011	1.62%
124	Dominican Republic	0.74%	893.2M	$79	3.92%
125	South Africa	0.73%	2.8B	$46	2.21%
126	Benin	0.71%	140.8M	$10	3.75%
127	Switzerland	0.7%	6.3B	$715	2.2%
128	Indonesia	0.68%	9.5B	$34	3.92%
129	Mexico	0.66%	11.8B	$92	2.37%
129	Madagascar	0.66%	102.1M	$3	3.45%
131	Mongolia	0.6%	147.8M	$43	1.73%
132	Guyana	0.59%	96.2M	$118	2.33%
133	Gambia	0.58%	13.8M	$5	2.64%
134	Sierra Leone	0.56%	22.4M	$3	2.35%
134	Malta	0.56%	112.6M	$211	1.38%
136	Nicaragua	0.55%	94.4M	$13	2.02%
136	Moldova	0.55%	93.4M	$27	1.4%
138	Cape Verde	0.53%	13.2M	$22	1.74%
139	Venezuela	0.5%	3.9M	$0	—
140	Kazakhstan	0.48%	1.2B	$63	2.1%
141	Argentina	0.47%	3.1B	$68	1.25%
142	Guatemala	0.41%	422.3M	$23	2.98%
143	Ghana	0.39%	285.4M	$8	1.92%
144	Papua New Guinea	0.31%	97M	$9	1.42%
145	Zimbabwe	0.25%	870.4M	$52	1.38%
146	Ireland	0.22%	1.3B	$251	1.02%
147	Mauritius	0.15%	22.5M	$17	0.52%
148	Haiti	0.05%	11.7M	$1	0.67%
—	Somalia	—	143.5M	$8	19.8%

What correlates with % of GDP (2023)?

Pearson r against 1,516 other country metrics sharing at least 89 countries. Correlation is not causation.

Higher together

Places that have a higher % of GDP tend to score higher on these

% of Country GDPMilitary Spending by Country
r = +0.97 · very strong · n = 144
Plot
% of Govt SpendingMilitary Spending by Country
r = +0.91 · very strong · n = 143
Plot
Foreign Aid ObligationsUS Foreign Aid by Country
r = +0.88 · very strong · n = 119
Plot
Foreign Aid DisbursementsUS Foreign Aid by Country
r = +0.86 · very strong · n = 126
Plot
Vendors ImportingCountries That Use a Bidet
r = +0.83 · very strong · n = 117
Plot
International Refugees OriginatedRefugees by Country
r = +0.81 · very strong · n = 144
Plot

Opposite directions

Places that have a higher % of GDP tend to score lower on these

Workforce Participation WomenWorkforce Participation by Country
r = −0.25 · weak · n = 143
Plot
Ecological Reserve or DeficitEcological Footprint by Country
r = −0.23 · weak · n = 105
Plot
10 Year ChangeWater Quality by Country
r = −0.22 · weak · n = 146
Plot
Most Recent ElectionRuling Political Parties by Country
r = −0.22 · weak · n = 146
Plot
Net Borrowing as % of GDPGovernment Size by Country
r = −0.21 · weak · n = 142
Plot
Governance ValuePolitical Stability by Country
r = −0.21 · weak · n = 147
Plot

Quick answers

Which country has the highest % of GDP?: Ukraine has the highest % of GDP in 2023, at 36.7%, followed by Lebanon (8.91%) and Algeria (8.17%).
Which country has the lowest % of GDP?: Haiti has the lowest % of GDP in 2023, at 0.05%.
What is the median % of GDP across countries?: The median is 1.58% across the 148 countries with data in 2023.
Where does this defense spending by country data come from?: Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: SIPRI Military Expenditure Database - SIPRI; Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Military Expenditure Database; SIPRI Military Expenditure Database - expenses in US$ 1988-2020; SIPRI Military Expenditure Database - expenses as share of GDP.

Higher together

Opposite directions

Quick answers

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