The graphs and tables below depict the history of the relative size of US military spending. Relative size is measured here in two ways:
Please note that
In the graph and table below, the measure of the size of the economy used is GDP (gross domestic product). US military spending is reported as a percentage of US GDP.
The data were taken from reference [1].
| Fiscal Year | Military spending as percent of GDP |
|---|---|
| 1940 | 1.7 |
| 1941 | 5.6 |
| 1942 | 17.8 |
| 1943 | 37.0 |
| 1944 | 37.8 |
| 1945 | 37.5 |
| 1946 | 19.2 |
| 1947 | 5.5 |
| 1948 | 3.5 |
| 1949 | 4.8 |
| 1950 | 5.0 |
| 1951 | 7.4 |
| 1952 | 13.2 |
| 1953 | 14.2 |
| 1954 | 13.1 |
| 1955 | 10.8 |
| 1956 | 10.0 |
| 1957 | 10.1 |
| 1958 | 10.2 |
| 1959 | 10.0 |
| 1960 | 9.3 |
| 1961 | 9.4 |
| 1962 | 9.2 |
| 1963 | 8.9 |
| 1964 | 8.5 |
| 1965 | 7.4 |
| 1966 | 7.7 |
| 1967 | 8.8 |
| 1968 | 9.4 |
| 1969 | 8.7 |
| 1970 | 8.1 |
| 1971 | 7.3 |
| 1972 | 6.7 |
| 1973 | 5.8 |
| 1974 | 5.5 |
| 1975 | 5.5 |
| 1976 | 5.2 |
| 1977 | 4.9 |
| 1978 | 4.7 |
| 1979 | 4.6 |
| 1980 | 4.9 |
| 1981 | 5.1 |
| 1982 | 5.7 |
| 1983 | 6.1 |
| 1984 | 5.9 |
| 1985 | 6.1 |
| 1986 | 6.2 |
| 1987 | 6.1 |
| 1988 | 5.8 |
| 1989 | 5.6 |
| 1990 | 5.2 |
| 1991 | 4.6 |
| 1992 | 4.8 |
| 1993 | 4.4 |
| 1994 | 4.0 |
| 1995 | 3.7 |
| 1996 | 3.5 |
| 1997 | 3.3 |
| 1998 | 3.1 |
| 1999 | 3.0 |
| 2000 | 3.0 |
| 2001 | 3.0 |
| 2002 | 3.4 |
| 2003 | 3.7 |
The data in Table 1 are the same as those in Graph 1 and are also taken from reference [1].
In the graph and table below, US military spending is reported as a percentage of discretionary outlays. (Technical note: total military spending data used here is restricted to discretionary spending, unlike that used in the comparison with GDP above. The two amounts are very close, however.)
The data were taken from reference [2].
| Fiscal Year | Military spending as percent of discretionary spending |
|---|---|
| 1962 | 72.9 |
| 1963 | 71.3 |
| 1964 | 69.5 |
| 1965 | 65.6 |
| 1966 | 65.4 |
| 1967 | 67.6 |
| 1968 | 69.6 |
| 1969 | 70.5 |
| 1970 | 68.1 |
| 1971 | 64.5 |
| 1972 | 61.7 |
| 1973 | 59.1 |
| 1974 | 58.4 |
| 1975 | 55.5 |
| 1976 | 51.2 |
| 1977 | 49.5 |
| 1978 | 47.8 |
| 1979 | 48.7 |
| 1980 | 48.7 |
| 1981 | 51.3 |
| 1982 | 57.0 |
| 1983 | 59.4 |
| 1984 | 60.1 |
| 1985 | 60.9 |
| 1986 | 62.4 |
| 1987 | 63.6 |
| 1988 | 62.6 |
| 1989 | 62.2 |
| 1990 | 60.0 |
| 1991 | 59.9 |
| 1992 | 56.7 |
| 1993 | 54.2 |
| 1994 | 52.1 |
| 1995 | 50.2 |
| 1996 | 49.9 |
| 1997 | 49.6 |
| 1998 | 48.9 |
| 1999 | 48.2 |
| 2000 | 48.0 |
| 2001 | 47.1 |
| 2002 | 47.5 |
| 2003 | 49.0 |
The data in Table 2 are the same as those in Graph 2 and are also taken from reference [2].
| [1] | "Table 3.1: outlays by superfunction and function: 1940--2009," in Office of Management and Budget, Historical Tables, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2005 (2004), Washington, pp. 45--52 |
| [2] | "Public Budget Database, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2005" (2004) (database) |
Page last updated on 2004 March 26