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Defense Spending

Military spending, arms trade, bases & contracts โ€” 200+ countries

Defense Spending covers military expenditure, arms trade, defense contracts, military bases, and conflict displacement for 200+ countries โ€” all from official sources including World Bank, SIPRI, UN Comtrade, CIA Factbook, USAspending, and OpenStreetMap.

Military and defense data is scattered across a dozen different government and international organization portals. This tool aggregates 12 sources into 14 skills covering the full picture: from national spending trends and arms import/export flows to individual US and UK contract awards, EU arms embargoes, and UNHCR displacement numbers by conflict.

What you can do

  • military_spending โ€” annual defense expenditure for any country in USD and as % of GDP, back to 1960
  • compare_countries โ€” side-by-side military spending comparison between any two countries
  • military_profile โ€” armed forces size, equipment, and capability from CIA Factbook
  • arms_trade โ€” arms import and export data from UN Comtrade
  • arms_transfers โ€” SIPRI TIV trend data for major arms transfers
  • budget_authority โ€” US defense budget authority by program and year
  • budget_breakdown โ€” detailed breakdown of US defense spending by category
  • defense_outlays โ€” actual US defense spending outlays from Treasury
  • defense_contracts โ€” US and UK contract awards by vendor and category
  • top_contractors โ€” leading defense contractors by award value
  • spending_by_region โ€” regional breakdown of US defense contract spending
  • sanctions โ€” EU arms embargo status for any country
  • military_bases โ€” military installation locations from OpenStreetMap
  • displacement โ€” UNHCR conflict-related displacement figures by country

Who it's for

Defense analysts, policy researchers, journalists, academics, and investors in the defense sector. Also useful for anyone tracking geopolitical risk or government procurement in the defense space.

How to use it

  1. Start with military_spending for a country's spending history and GDP share
  2. Use compare_countries to benchmark against peers
  3. For US budget detail, chain budget_authority โ†’ budget_breakdown โ†’ defense_outlays
  4. Use defense_contracts to find specific award activity and top_contractors for industry concentration

Information

Price
Free
Provider
World Bank

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I compare military spending across countries?

`compare_countries` ranks the most recent spending data side by side for any mix of countries.

What is the difference between `military_spending` and `defense_outlays`?

`military_spending` is annual country spending from World Bank and SIPRI estimates, while `defense_outlays` is the actual monthly US Treasury cash outlay record.

Can I look at contracts or top contractors?

Yes. Use `defense_contracts`, `top_contractors`, `spending_by_region`, or `budget_authority` for US and UK procurement and budget views.

Does it include arms trade, sanctions, bases, or displacement?

Yes. Use `arms_trade`, `arms_transfers`, `sanctions`, `military_profile`, `military_bases`, or `displacement` for those angles.

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