Japan Drops in Military Spending Ranking, Despite Budget Rise to ¥6 Trillion
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The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute recently announced the results of a survey on global military spending in 2022. Japan placed tenth, one rank lower than the previous year, with a military budget of $46 billion (¥6.0 trillion).
Worldwide spending rose by 3.7% to an estimated $2.2 trillion (¥294 trillion), the highest on record since the start of regular collation of figures in 1988.
The United States came top with $877 billion, followed by China with an estimated $292 billion and Russia with an estimated $86.4 billion. In fourth place and below were India, Saudi Arabia, Britain, Germany, France, South Korea, and Japan. Compared to the previous year, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea all rose in the ranking. Military spending in Ukraine after Russia’s invasion increased 6.4-fold year-on-year to $44 billion, placing it eleventh in the global ranking (it had been thirty-sixth in 2021).
Meanwhile, overall spending for the top 15 countries was $1.8 trillion, accounting for 82% of the total.
Top 10 Military Budgets by Country
| Ranking | 2022 ($ billion) | % of GDP |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (1) | United States (877) | 3.45% |
| 2 (2) | China (292; estimated) | 1.60% |
| 3 (5) | Russia (86.4; estimated) | 4.06% |
| 4 (3) | India (81.4) | 2.43% |
| 5 (8) | Saudi Arabia (75; estimated) | 7.42% |
| 6 (4) | Britain (68.5) | 2.23% |
| 7 (7) | Germany (55.8) | 1.39% |
| 8 (6) | France (53.6) | 1.94% |
| 9 (10) | South Korea (46.4) | 2.72% |
| 10 (9) | Japan (46.0) | 1.08% |
Created by Nippon.com based on data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The ranking for 2021 is shown in parentheses.
Japan’s military spending as a share of GDP was 1.08% in 2022. Globally, military spending accounted for 2.2% of GDP. Among the top-spending nations, the figure was 3.5% in the United States, an estimated 1.6% in China, and an estimated 4.1% in Russia.
In 1988, Japan’s military spending stood at ¥3.7 trillion. However, in 1990 it reached the ¥4 trillion mark and continued to rise throughout the 1990s. From the 2000s, it stabilized around ¥5 trillion for some years. Then in 2022, it surpassed ¥6 trillion for the first time. Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has indicated the intention to increase Japan’s defense budget to approximately ¥9 trillion in 2027.
(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo: Members of the Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade disembark from an AAV7 amphibious vehicle during Japan Ground Self-Defense Force live firing exercises at the JGSDF East Fuji Maneuver Area in Shizuoka Prefecture on May 28, 2022. © Jiji.)