This map layer presents the comparison of military expenditures for the year 2018 of all available countries with spending in the respective social sector (sum of expenditures on health and education the current available years), classified in five categories.
The defence budget of a country is generally made up of two main categories: recurrent expenditures, such as salaries for soldiers or money needed for the maintenance of military material, and so-called investment expenditures, which are moneys invested in the expansion of military capacities (e.g. development), research and testing of new military technologies or in the purchase of new vehicles, equipment and weapons.
Expenditures for the social sector are recorded here as the sum of expenditure on health and education. Expenditure on health includes for instance the salaries of medical staff and doctors while expenditure on education includes the salaries of teachers, teaching material, buildings, etc.
A large public budget for these sectors is an indication of a high political significance. This political significance can be compared by calculating the ratio of military expenditures and social expenditures.
