In 2024, Ukraine allocated a record 30% of its GDP to defense, the highest share of any country in the world, the Ukrainian center for economic strategy (CES) reported.
By comparison, Russia spent a smaller part of GDP on its defense sector – around 7%, based on available data analyzed by the CES.
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Poland has the highest defense spending as a share of GDP among NATO countries – 4.1%. Estonia comes in second with 3.4%, then Latvia (3.2%), Lithuania (2.9%), and Greece (3%).
Meanwhile, eight NATO members, including Italy, Canada, and Spain, have yet to meet the current 2% minimum recommended threshold.
Ukraine has to spend a much larger share of its GDP on military needs, securing weapons, equipment, and essential supplies, given that its economic potential is significantly lower than Russia’s, the CES wrote.
Last year, Ukraine became the world’s largest arms importer during the period 2020 - 24, an increase of nearly 100 times its 2015–19 spend, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reported.
According to SIPRI, Ukraine received 8.8% of total global arms imports between 2020 and 2024. Over the past four years, European arms imports have increased by 155% in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion and particularly because of fears of a possible reduction in US military support.
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