Military > Expenditures > Dollar figure: Group totals
Author: Ian Graham, Staff Editor
In the fiscal year 1999, the United States spent about as much on its military as the next nine countries combined in the latest years for which figures are available. China, the second-biggest spender, spent only about 20 percent of the United States expenditures. <p>However, Russia and China both have more <a href=http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/mil_arm_for_per>armed forces personnel </a>than the United States. China has 2,810,000 people in its armed forces and Russia has 1,520,000. The United States is third, with 1,366,000 armed forces personnel. India is fourth, with 1,303,000 people. No other country has more than a million. <p>There are 19.67 million people in the armed forces worldwide. Total military spending in the top 170 countries is $741.16 billion. <p>United States armed forces personnel represent about 7 percent of the total worldwide, but the U.S. expenditures are 37 percent of the total.
DEFINITION:
Current military expenditures in US dollars; the figure is calculated by multiplying the estimated defense spending in percentage terms by the gross domestic product (GDP) calculated on an exchange rate basis not purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. Dollar figures for military expenditures should be treated with caution because of different price patterns and accounting methods among nations, as well as wide variations in the strength of their currencies.
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