Bahrain vs United States of America: Military spending as a share of GDP

Bahrain
3.4%
in 2019
United States of America
3.2%
in 2019
Bahrain rank
17th
United States of America rank
20th

Military spending as a share of GDP over time

  • Bahrain
  • United States of America
0102030181619172019

How they compare

Bahrain currently reports 3.4% against 3.2% in United States of America, a difference of 0.2%.

That makes Bahrain's figure about 1.1 times United States of America's.

The two have swapped places 7 times across 49 shared years of data; in 1971 it was United States of America ahead.

Bahrain ranks 17th and United States of America ranks 20th of 172 countries.

Across the 5 decades both report, Bahrain averaged higher in 1 and United States of America in 4.

Head to head by decade

Decade Bahrain United States of America Difference Ahead
1970s 1.8% 4.4% 2.6% United States of America
1980s 4.4% 4.5% 0.1% United States of America
1990s 3.4% 3.2% 0.2% Bahrain
2000s 2.3% 3.1% 0.8% United States of America
2010s 3.1% 3.1% 0.1% United States of America

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher military spending as a share of gdp, Bahrain or United States of America?
Bahrain, at 3.4% against 3.2% in United States of America as of 2019.
What is the difference in military spending as a share of gdp between Bahrain and United States of America?
0.2%, with Bahrain ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Bahrain and United States of America?
49 years are reported by both, from 1971 to 2019.
How do Bahrain and United States of America rank globally for military spending as a share of gdp?
Bahrain ranks 17th and United States of America ranks 20th of 172 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as Military spending as a share of GDP. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

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Bahrain vs United States of America: Military spending as a share of GDP. Statizoid, drawing on Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 11 September 2026, from https://economy.statizoid.com/compare/military-spending-as-a-share-of-gdp-gmsd/bahrain/united-states/

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About this data

Indicator
Military spending as a share of GDP
Unit
% of GDP
Source
Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
172 places, 14,793 data points, 1816–2019
Last refreshed

Military spending measured as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP).