It has been revealed which country spends the most on military research
In the ranking based on data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the US became the country allocating the most budget funds to defense research and development relative to GDP. Out of every $1,000 of GDP, $3.64 is spent on this area in the US, while $2.06 is spent in South Korea.
The country allocating the most funds to military research has been revealed
The ranking takes into account budget allocations per $1,000 of gross domestic product, rather than the absolute expenditures of the countries.
The data is sourced from the first 2026 issue of the OECD Economic Outlook report. The ranking mainly uses 2024 indicators or the latest available data as of August 2026.
The top five of the ranking are as follows:
USA — $3.64 per $1,000 of GDP;
South Korea — $2.06;
United Kingdom — $0.97;
Germany — $0.79;
France — $0.50.
The USA is the leader by a wide margin
The USA directs $3.64 out of every $1,000 of GDP to defense research and the development of new military technologies. This is equivalent to approximately 0.364 percent of the country's GDP.
The American figure is nearly 1.8 times higher than that of second-placed South Korea, and more than 3.7 times higher than that of third-placed United Kingdom.
The USA also remains the country with the largest military expenditures in the world in absolute terms. In 2025, the country's total military expenditures amounted to $954 billion. This is equivalent to nearly one-third of all military expenditures in the world.
The share of the US military budget in GDP in 2025 decreased compared to the annual average for 2015–2022.
Nevertheless, in April 2026, the US military department under the Donald Trump administration requested a record $1.5 trillion defense budget for the 2027 fiscal year. This is 42 percent more than the 2026 funding level.
South Korea is the only close competitor