However it is calculated, the US military budget is by far the highest in the world and in fact accounts for 43 percent of the world’s military spending. In 2010, the US official military budget (defense outlays only) was $698 billion. China ranked a distant second at $119 billion, followed by the United Kingdom at $60 billion and France at $49 billion (see Figure 16.3 "International Military Spending, 2010").
Figure 16.3 International Military Spending, 2010
Source: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. (2011). Background paper on SIPRI military expenditure data, 2010. Retrieved from http://www.sipri.org/research/armaments/milex/factsheet2010.
