Extract from http://www.globalissues.org/Geopolitics/ArmsTrade/Spending.asp#InContextUSMilitarySpendingVersusRestoftheWorld :
The United States being the most formidable military power, it is worth looking at their spending.
The U.S. military budget request for Fiscal Year 2005 is $420.7 billion.
· For Fiscal Year 2004 it was $399.1 billion.
· For Fiscal Year 2003 it was $396.1 billion.
· For Fiscal Year 2002 it was $343.2 billion.
· For Fiscal Year 2001 it was $305 billion. And Congress had increased that budget request to $310 billion.
· This was up from approximately $288.8 billion, in 2000.
Compared to the rest of the world, these numbers are indeed staggering.
In Context: U.S. Military Spending Versus Rest of the World
Consider the following:
· The US military budget is almost as much as the rest of the world's.
· The US military budget is more than 8 times larger than the Chinese budget, the second largest spender.
· The US military budget is more than 29 times as large as the combined spending of the seven “rogue” states (Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria) who spent $14.4 billion.
· It is more than the combined spending of the next twenty three nations.
· The United States and its close allies account for some two thirds to three-quarters of all military spending, depending on who you count as close allies (typically NATO countries, Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan and South Korea)
· The seven potential “enemies,” Russia, and China together spend $116.2 billion, 27.6% of the U.S. military budget.
Compare this to the previous year »
· The US military budget then was more than 6 times larger than the Russian budget, the second largest spender.
· The US military budget was more than 37 times as large as the combined spending of the seven “rogue” states (Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria).
· Was more than the combined spending of the next twenty nations.
· The United States and its close allies (NATO countries, Australia, Japan and South Korea) spent more than the rest of the world combined
O This accounted for some two thirds of all military spending.
O Together they spent approximately 57 times more than the seven rogue states.
· The seven potential “enemies,” Russia, and China together spent $123 billion, 31% of the U.S. military budget.
Some of the above statistics come from organizations such as the Center for Defence Information, and the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. This second one, for example has a section on Highlights for fiscal year 2005 budget request. It includes a tabulation of top 48 countries in terms of their spending.
U.S. Military Spending vs. the World (Top 25): ($ Billions)
Notes:
· Figures are for latest year available, usually 2003. Expenditures are used in a few cases where official budgets are significantly lower than actual spending. The figure for the United States is from the annual budget request for Fiscal Year 2005.
· * 2002 Funding.
Source: World Military Spending, Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, February 2004