What is the Cost of War in Countries Around the World? [2019] (2024)

FAQs

What is the Cost of War in Countries Around the World? [2019]? ›

This report estimates the economic impact of violence and conflict on the global economy. In 2019, it was estimated to be $14.4 trillion in constant purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. This is equivalent to 10.5% of the global gross domestic product (GDP) or $1,895 per person.

Including estimated future costs for veterans' care, the total budgetary costs and future obligations of the post-9/11 wars is about $8 trillion in current dollars. To learn more, read the report The U.S. Budgetary Costs of the Post-9/11 Wars, published on September 1, 2021. Concept by Kenneth Benson and Daniel Um.

The global economic impact of violence is ~ $14.4 trillion.

The 2021 Economic Value of Peace report shows that the global economic impact of violence is estimated to be $14.4 trillion.

Totaling these expenses and Congressional requests through FY2022, the U.S. federal government has spent and obligated over $8 trillion on the post-9/11 wars.

Effects of war also include mass destruction of cities and have long lasting effects on a country's economy. Armed conflict has important indirect negative consequences on infrastructure, public health provision, and social order.

Though it lasted fewer than four years, World War II was the most expensive war in United States history. Adjusted for inflation to today's dollars, the war cost over $4 trillion and in 1945, the war's last year, defense spending comprised about 40% of gross domestic product (GDP).

Many experts estimate that since 2001, the United States has spent as much as $5.1 trillion on war and war-related costs such as veteran care, ally assistance and stronger homeland security. By this figure, the war is responsible for nearly a third of the total national debt.

The American Civil War is the conflict with the largest number of American military fatalities in history. In fact, the Civil War's death toll is comparable to all other major wars combined, the deadliest of which were the World Wars, which have a combined death toll of more than 520,000 American fatalities.

Contrary to the widespread belief that war is a particularly effective way to create jobs, U.S. federal spending on the current wars would have led to at least 1.4 million more jobs had the money been invested instead in education, health care or green energy.

What country spends the most money on the war? ›

The United States led the ranking of the countries with the highest military spending in 2023, with 916 billion U.S. dollars dedicated to the military. That constituted over 40 percent of the total military spending worldwide that year, which amounted to 2.4 trillion U.S. dollars.

The US remains the world's largest defense spender, outlaying $916 billion last year, a 2.3 percent annual increase, ahead of China in second place, which spent an estimated $296 billion, a 6 percent increase over the same period.

Defense. Approximately 20 percent of the federal budget is spent on defense and security. Most of that 20 percent is for the Department of Defense, which covers the cost of military operations, troop training, equipment, and weapons research.

All in all, there are a number of different ways, both on the demand and supply sides, in which war can lead to inflation rising, both in individual countries and in the world economy as a whole. The fact that war leads to inflation becomes quite clear when studying a longer time series for inflation.

It is widely assumed that such a world war would involve all the great powers, like its predecessors, and include the use of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction, and thus surpass prior conflicts in geographic scope, destruction, and loss of life.

According to most estimates, every day of the war in Ukraine costs Russia $500 million to $1 billion. Russia faced a record shortage of factory workers in July 2023, with more than 43% of industrial enterprises facing a shortage, up from 35% in April.

What percentage of the US budget goes toward the military? In 2023, defense spending made up 13.3% of the federal budget. Since 1980, the percentage of federal spending for the military has fluctuated between a height of 27.9% in 1987 and lows of 11% in 2020 and 2021.

The average cost per active duty service member for the military this fiscal year was $136,000. Earlier this fall, CSIS released a report noting that the number of active-duty troops fell by more than 64 percent from 1952 to 2016, but total DOD personnel spending rose by 110 percent over the same period.

Conscientious objector status is perhaps the most well-known route soldiers may pursue if they're seeking to refuse deployment on ethical, moral, or religious grounds. This status is not granted lightly; you'll need to provide compelling evidence of your beliefs and reasons.

Rockoff estimates the total cost of World War I to the United States at approximately $32 billion, or 52 percent of gross national product at the time.