Military budget

Military spending in 2005

A military budget (or military expenditure), also known as a defence budget, is the amount of financial resources dedicated by an entity (most often a nation or a state), to raising and maintaining an armed forces. Military budgets often reflect how much an entity perceives the likelihood of threats against it, or the amount of aggression it wishes to employ. It also provides an idea of how much finances could be provided for the upcoming year. The size of a budget also reflects the entity's ability to fund military activities, with factors including the size of that entity's economy, other financial demands on that entity, and the willingness of that entity's government or people to fund such military activity. Generally excluded from military expenditures is spending on internal law enforcement and disabled veteran rehabilitation.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, in 2010, world military expenditure for the world amounted to 1.630 trillion US$.

SIPRI Yearbook 2011 - World's top 15 military spenders

Currently, the world's five largest military spenders (United States, China, Russia, France and the United Kingdom) are recognized to be world powers with each being a veto-wielding permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

The world's top 5 military spenders in 2010. Figures sourced from the SIPRI Yearbook 2011.

Rank	Country	Spending ($ Bn.)	% of GDP	World Share (%)
—	World Total	1,630	2.6	100
1	United States	711.0	4.7	41
2	Chinay	143.0	2.0	8.2
3	Russiay	71.9	3.9	4.1
4	United Kingdom	62.7	2.6	3.6
5	France	62.5	2.3	3.6
6	Japan	54.5	1.0	3.3
7	Saudi Arabiaz	48.2	10.4	3.0
8	India	46.8	2.5	2.9
9	Germanyy	46.7	1.3	2.5
10	Italyy	37.0	1.8	2.3
11	Brazil	33.5	1.6	2.1
12	South Korea	27.6	2.8	1.7
13	Australia	24.0	2.0	1.5
14	Canaday	22.8	1.5	1.4
15	Turkeyy	17.5	2.4	1.1

^ SIPRI estimate

^ The figures for Saudi Arabia include expenditure for public order and safety and might be slight overestimates.

Historic expenditure

1897

In the Saturday Review magazine in February 1898, indicates that the percentage of tax revenue spent on military budgets as follows:

• United States: 17%
• Russian Empire: 21%
• France: 27%
• British Empire: 39% (40 million pounds or 2.5% of GNP)
• German Empire: 43%
• Empire of Japan: 55% (132 million yen)

2003

In 2004, the yearly report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute showed that the purchase of military products by NATO member nations during the year 2003 rose 11 percent relative to 2002 (6.5 percent in volume). In some countries, this budget had been increased to the level maintained during the Cold War. The military budget of the United States lead this increase; U.S. purchases accounted for 47% of world military expenditure in 2003. A total of about US$415 billion. Additional funding for the War in Iraq and the supplementary expense of US$83 billion accounted for much of the increase; other spending only accounted for 3.5 percent of the increase.

The military budgets of the United Kingdom, France and Italy represented about 15% of world military spending. France and the United Kingdom increased their equipment expenses, so as not only to act in US military operations with the same technological level of their ally, but equally to be able to act independently in smaller military campaigns. (Such as was seen in the Libya).

Among non-NATO nations, Japan spent US$46.9 billion in 2003, The People's Republic of China, US$32.8 billion, and Russia, US$13 billion. As a percentage share of world military spending this represented 5%, 4%, and 1%, respectively.

See also

• List of countries by military expenditures
• Permanent war economy
• Military funding of science
• Military Keynesianism
• Military-industrial complex
• Peace dividend
• Defense contractor
• Guns versus butter model
• Swords to ploughshares
• List of countries by Global Militarization Index

External links

• SIPRI military expenditure database