May 22, 2025
Amid a jump in military spending worldwide in 2024, Japan ranked tenth globally as its layouts rose to $55.3 billion (¥8.4 trillion).
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute recently announced the results of its survey on global military spending in 2024. Japan remained in tenth position, despite a 21% year-on-year increase to $55.3 billion (¥8.4 trillion).
The United States dominated the ranking at $997 billion, followed by China with an estimated $314 billion and Russia with an estimated $149 billion. Rounding out the list were Germany, India, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, France, and Japan. Russia’s total increased by 38% year on year, while Ukraine’s rose by 2.9% to $64.7 billion. Israel was ranked in twelfth after a 65% rise to $46.5 billion.
Overall spending for the top 15 countries was $2.2 trillion, accounting for 80% of the total.
Japan’s military spending as a share of GDP was 1.4% in 2024. Globally, military spending accounted for 2.5% of GDP. Among the top-spending nations, the figure was 3.4% in the United States, an estimated 1.7% in China, and an estimated 7.1% in Russia. It reached as high as 34% in Ukraine.
Including Russia, European military spending rose by 17% year on year. Among NATO members, spending as a share of GDP was 1.9% in Germany, 2.3% in Britain, 2.1% in France, 4.2% in Poland, and 1.6% in Italy.
In 1988, Japan’s military spending stood at ¥3.7 trillion. However, in 1990 it reached the ¥4 trillion mark and continued to rise throughout the 1990s. From the 2000s, it remained around ¥5 trillion, but surpassed ¥6 trillion for the first time in 2023 before surging to over ¥8 trillion in 2024.
(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo: Service members salute at the inauguration of the Joint Operations Command for directing operations of the Ground, Maritime, and Air Self-Defense Forces in Tokyo on March 24, 2025. © Jiji.)