Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

The FY 2009 Pentagon Spending Request - Global Military Spending

by Christopher Hellman [contact information]

by Travis Sharp [contact information]

February 22, 2008

On February 4, the Bush administration released its budget request for Fiscal Year 2009, which begins on October 1, 2008. For FY 2009, the White House is seeking $711 billion for the military -- $541 billion for the Pentagon and the nuclear weapons-related activities of the Department of Energy, and, according to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, at least $170 billion for ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The United States is far and away the global leader in military spending. Consider the following:

• The United States spends more than the next 46 highest spending countries in the world combined.
• The United States accounts for 48 percent of the world's total military spending.
• The United States spends on its military 5.8 times more than China, 10.2 times more than Russia, and 98.6 times more than Iran.
• The United States and its strongest allies (the NATO countries, Japan, South Korea and Australia) spend $1.1 trillion on their militaries combined, representing 72 percent of the world's total.

U.S. MILITARY SPENDING VS. THE WORLD
(EXPENDITURES IN BILLIONS OF U.S. DOLLARS)

*NOTES: The figure for the United States is the budget request for Fiscal Year 2009 and includes $170 billion for ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as funding for DOE nuclear weapons activities. All other figures are projections based on 2006, the last year for which accurate data is available. All countries that spent over one billion per year are listed.

Sources: International Institute for Strategic Studies, The Military Balance 2008, U.S. Department of Defense.