Who's got the biggest military (by size, per capita)?

North Korea, where everybody lives in poverty and the gov wastes it's resources on a war that's never going to come.

The World’s Most Militarized Economies by Three Metrics

November 3, 2025

By Dorothy Neufeld, Visual Capitalist

America’s military budget is the largest in the world, at $949 billion in 2024.

North Korea has the highest military spending per capita in purchasing power parity terms, at $9,929.

In 2024, the U.S., China, and Russia were the top countries by military spending, representing more than half of the global total.

Overall, global military expenditures hit a record $2.7 trillion, a 9.4% increase over the year. Amid rising geopolitical tensions, all five regions of the world increased their military spending for the second consecutive year.

This graphic shows the most militarized countries across three metrics, based on data from the Institute of Economics and Peace.

With a $949 billion budget, America has 1.5 million active duty personnel across 4,790 military sites globally.

China follows next, with $450 billion in spending. Overall, Taiwan stands as a top priority for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), with widespread U.S. intelligence suggesting that Xi Jinping wants to be capable of seizing the country by force by 2027.

Ranking in third is Russia, which increased expenditures by an estimated 38% in 2024 amid ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

Qatar, a small gulf state bordering Saudi Arabia, stands in second, driven by broad-based modernization of its military, navy, and air force.

Interestingly, Singapore comes in third by this measure, despite being known as a neutral state. In fact, Singapore has consistently spent around 3% of GDP on defense for decades, higher than most European countries.

In comparison, Russia’s military budget was 6% of GDP, at $352 billion in 2024. Today, Russia has the largest army in Europe, with 1.3 million active duty personnel, while Ukraine follows with 900,000 active troops.