This map layer presents the military expenditures for the year 2017, classified in five categories, of all available countries in billion US dollars and compares them to their respective gross domestic product (GDP).
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.
The gross domestic product (GDP) is a parameter depicting the economic performance of a country and is made up of the market value of all products and services produced within a certain period of time in that country. When setting GDP and military expenditures in relation to each other, the percentage of the economic performance being spent on the military budget becomes clear, which makes a comparison between the countries possible.
