Iraq's military expenditure (% of general government expenditure) was 5.53% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 6.92 percentage points from 12.45% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 5.53% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 7.43% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 12.45% | 2015 |
| Highest | 12.45% | 2015 |
| Lowest | 1.83% | 2004 |
| Average since 2016 | 7.2% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 1.83% | 2004 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Iraq's military expenditure (% of general government expenditure) rose 0.23 percentage points on 2024 (from 5.3% to 5.53%).
Across the 20 yearly changes before that (2005 to 2024), the average change was +0.17 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.07 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.0 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 5.71 percentage points in 2015 and the biggest yearly fall was 4.07 percentage points in 2016. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.6 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 73% of the movement over 10 observed years.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2025, Iraq had the 67th highest value of the 149 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Iraq | 5.53% | 2025 |
| World | 6.63% | 2024 |
| Upper middle income | 5.61% | 2024 |
Closest to Iraq in the 2025 ranking
- Ecuador — 64th of 149: 5.67%
- Honduras — 65th of 149: 5.66%
- Romania — 66th of 149: 5.65%
- United Kingdom — 68th of 149: 5.45%
- Philippines — 69th of 149: 5.4%
- Bulgaria — 70th of 149: 5.2%
What this measures
Military expenditure expressed as a percentage of general government expenditure
Limitations: SIPRI strives to compile reliable, consistent military expenditure data by assessing multiple sources, but accuracy depends on the quality and transparency of those sources. Challenges arise from two key issues: whether reported figures reflect actual spending and how closely they match SIPRI’s definition. While data is generally accurate in developed and many developing countries, weak governance, corruption, and secret transfers in others can lead to major discrepancies. SIPRI sometimes makes estimates, when sources conflict or lack coverage, introducing uncertainty, especially for countries like China or the UAE.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 22 values
| Year | Military expenditure (% of general government expenditure) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 5.53 |
| 2024 | 5.3 |
| 2023 | 5.12 |
| 2022 | 4.83 |
| 2021 | 6.22 |
| 2020 | 7.43 |
| 2019 | 9.34 |
| 2018 | 8.84 |
| 2017 | 11.01 |
| 2016 | 8.38 |
| 2015 |
Military expenditure (% of general government expenditure) in nearby economies
- Afghanistan — 4.97% (2020)
- Algeria — 24.57% (2025)
- Bahrain — 10.8% (2025)
- Egypt, Arab Rep. — 2.45% (2025)
- Iran, Islamic Rep. — 11.16% (2025)
- Israel — 17.83% (2025)
- Jordan — 13.53% (2025)
- Kuwait — 10.09% (2025)
- Lebanon — 16.63% (2025)
More public sector data for Iraq
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 55 million (2025)
- Military expenditure (current USD) — 6.45 billion (2025)
- Military expenditure (current LCU) — 8.45 trillion (2025)
- Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 2.45% (2025)
- Battle-related deaths (number of people) — 396 (2024)
- Armed forces personnel, total — 459,000 (2020)
- Armed forces personnel (% of total labor force) — 4.4% (2020)
- Statistical performance indicators (SPI): Pillar 1 data use score (scale 0-100) — 60 (2024)
- Statistical performance indicators (SPI): Pillar 3 data products score (scale 0-100) — 66.53 (2024)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Iraq's military expenditure (% of general government expenditure)?
- 5.53% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 2004?
- It is up 3.7 percentage points from 1.83% in 2004. The highest value was 12.45% in 2015 and the lowest 1.83% in 2004.
- How does Iraq rank?
- 67th highest of 149 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in military expenditure (% of general government expenditure) unusual for Iraq?
- In 2025, Iraq's military expenditure (% of general government expenditure) rose 0.23 percentage points on 2024 (from 5.3% to 5.53%). Across the 20 yearly changes before that (2005 to 2024), the average change was +0.17 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.07 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.0 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator MS.MIL.XPND.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: SIPRI Military Expenditure Database, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), uri: https://www.sipri.org/databases Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.
Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.
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