Russian defence budget overtakes Europe’s

Military spending in Russia, whose economy President Vladimir Putin
has put on a war footing, now outstrips all of Europe’s defence budgets combined, the International Institute for Strategic Studies says


TOP 15 DEFENCE BUDGETS ($bn, 2024)
Global spending: 2.46trn – 7.4%
rise from 2.24trn in 2023

United States
968.0

China
235.0 
476.7 (PPP) 

Russia: 
41.9% rise
from 2023

Russia 
145.9
461.6 (PPP)

Germany:
Spending
rose 23%,
topping
UK’s
budget for
first time
in more
than three
decades

86.0
Germany

81.1 
UK

74.4
India 

71.7 
Saudi Arabia

64.0 
France 

53.0
Japan 

43.9 
S. Korea

36.4
Australia
 
35.2
Italy 

33.7 
Israel 

28.4
Ukraine 

Poland
28.4

Europe
457.0

Russia
461.6


On basis of purchasing power parity
(PPP)*, Russia’s expenditure reached
$462bn, outpacing Europe’s, which
rose 11.7% to $457bn in 2024

*Adjusts for what currencies can buy
in their home countries


Source: IISS 2025 Military Balance report 
Picture: Getty Images 
© GRAPHIC NEWS