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Original source: https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex

Local snapshot (archived 2026-07-03): full-page PDF committed at sources/military/_archive/sipri-milex-database-2025/sipri-milex-database-2025.pdf.

SIPRI Military Expenditure Database

The gold-standard open dataset on national military spending, consistent time series 1949-2025. Downloadable Excel; figures given in constant (2024) US$ and current US$, plus share of GDP and per capita, by calendar year. Excel revised 27 April 2026.

Methodology notes (for defensibility)

  • SIPRI reports in USD (both current and constant 2024). This dataset converts to CAD downstream.
  • SIPRI "military expenditure" includes armed forces, defence ministries, paramilitary when trained/equipped for military ops, and military space — but excludes civil defence and past military activity (veterans, demobilization). This is broader than a pure "army payroll" number and is the internationally accepted comparison basis.
  • Small-nation figures below the top-40 are not in the headline fact sheet; they are in the full Excel and are mirrored by TheGlobalEconomy.com, global-relocate.com, macrotrends, and tradingeconomics (all citing SIPRI).

World total context

  • World military expenditure 2024: US$2,718 billion (current), +9.4% real YoY — steepest rise since at least 1988.
  • Top spenders 2024 (current US$): USA $997B, China ~$314B, Russia est., UK $81.8B, Saudi Arabia $80.3B, Ukraine $64.7B, France $64.7B, Japan $55.3B.

Note on Iceland

Iceland maintains no standing army and reports US$0 military expenditure in SIPRI. Its security is provided by a Coast Guard (policing/SAR budget, not counted as military) and NATO membership. Use with a footnote — it is the cleanest "shock" entry but a hostile fact-checker will note it has no army by design, not by budget scale.