Turkey’s military spending reached $30 billion in 2025, representing a 7.2% increase compared to 2024 and a 94% rise compared to 2016. With this level of defence spending, the Eurasian country ranks 18th among the nations with the highest military expenditure in the world, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) published on 27 April.
The study published by SIPRI, entitled “Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2025”, notes that the increase in Turkey’s defence budget is partly due to Turkish military operations in Iraq, Somalia and Syria; however, the main reason for this growth is the strong boost to the Turkish national defence industry.
“Türkiye’s military expenditure reached $30.0 billion in 2025, an increase of 7.2 per cent from 2024 and of 94 per cent from 2016. The overall increase was driven by Türkiye’s continuing military operations in Iraq, Somalia and Syria, but most of all by investments in its domestic arms industry. Allocations to the special fund to support the Turkish arms industry rose by 25 per cent yearon-year and accounted for 22 per cent of Türkiye’s total military expenditure in 2025”, states the report presented by SIPRI.
Nevertheless, defence spending last year accounted for 1.9% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in Turkey, slightly below the 2% recorded in 2016, according to the report. Globally, world military spending stood at around $2.9 trillion in 2025, marking 11 consecutive years of growth driven by rising international insecurity and the rearmament of many countries.
The United States, China and Russia account for more than half of global defence spending
The United States, China and Russia together accounted for expenditure of $1.48 trillion, equivalent to just over half of global defence spending. Despite ongoing tensions in the Middle East, paradoxically the increase in the military budget in this region was minimal, with a total rise of just 0.1% to $218 billion.
In Iran, defence spending fell by 5.6% in 2025 to $7.4 billion, although in nominal terms it increased; this apparent decline was mainly due to inflation, which reached an annual rate of 42% in Iran. In Israel, the 4.9% reduction noted in the report – down to $48.3 billion – can be explained by a reduction in the intensity of the conflict in Gaza following the ceasefire initially announced in January 2025, although the level of Israeli spending on its military forces remains 97% higher than in 2022, according to SIPRI.
For its part, Russia increased its defence budget by 5.9% to $190 billion, equivalent to 7.5% of its GDP, whilst Ukraine increased its military spending by 20% to $84.1 billion, equivalent to no less than 40% of the Ukrainian economy. Finally, the report notes that Turkey’s military budget amounts to 1% of total global defence spending.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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