http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS?order=wbapi_data_value_2011+wbapi_data_value+wbapi_data_value-last&sort=desc http://data.worldbank.org/ind

http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS?order=wbapi_data_value_2011+wbapi_data_value+wbapi_data_value-last&sort=desc http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS?order=... (with nice description of what it includes and excludes) > It's a lot more useful to compare defense spending to the budget, not GDP Different types of government will lead to the same expenditures being handled within the government's budget and not. US budget/GDP is low, so using that ratio instead makes it look misleadingly high (since you get to 4x it). budget/GDP ratio examples: Cuba 86.5%, France 55.7%, UK 50.9%, US 23.6%, China 23.0%, India 17.5% https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2056.html https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/... > US spent more than the next 13 highest spending nations combined If you're comparing how countries allocate their resources, you divide their absolute numbers by the amount of resources they have (debt-to-GDP, etc). By example: the US produced 46,500,000 tonnes of salt in 2006, and France 7,000,000 tonnes. US salt epidemic! But that salt production ratio is 6.64, and their 2006 GDP ratio is 5.837. edit: if you like 80s-90s US/NATO/world military expenditure comparisons, this is comprehensive: http://csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/bwcfcompsummary%5B1%5D.pdf http://csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/bwcfcompsummary%5B1%5D...