Japan vs Nicaragua: Military spending as a share of GDP

Japan
0.6%
in 2019
Nicaragua
0.6%
in 2019
Japan rank
147th
Nicaragua rank
150th

Military spending as a share of GDP over time

  • Japan
  • Nicaragua
020406080186019392019

How they compare

Japan currently reports 0.6% against 0.6% in Nicaragua, a difference of 0.0%.

That makes Japan's figure about 1.1 times Nicaragua's.

The two have swapped places 4 times across 114 shared years of data; in 1900 it was Japan ahead.

Japan ranks 147th and Nicaragua ranks 150th of 172 countries.

Across the 12 decades both report, Japan averaged higher in 7 and Nicaragua in 5.

Head to head by decade

Decade Japan Nicaragua Difference Ahead
1900s 5.7% 2.1% 3.7% Japan
1910s 3.4% 0.6% 2.8% Japan
1920s 2.6% 0.1% 2.5% Japan
1930s 4.6% 0.2% 4.4% Japan
1940s 31.9% 1.0% 30.9% Japan
1950s 1.1% 3.0% 1.8% Nicaragua
1960s 0.5% 1.1% 0.6% Nicaragua
1970s 0.6% 0.9% 0.4% Nicaragua
1980s 0.7% 6.5% 5.7% Nicaragua
1990s 0.8% 2.1% 1.4% Nicaragua
2000s 0.6% 0.4% 0.2% Japan
2010s 0.6% 0.5% 0.1% Japan

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher military spending as a share of gdp, Japan or Nicaragua?
Japan, at 0.6% against 0.6% in Nicaragua as of 2019.
What is the difference in military spending as a share of gdp between Japan and Nicaragua?
0.0%, with Japan ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Japan and Nicaragua?
114 years are reported by both, from 1900 to 2019.
How do Japan and Nicaragua rank globally for military spending as a share of gdp?
Japan ranks 147th and Nicaragua ranks 150th 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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Japan vs Nicaragua: 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 10 September 2026, from https://economy.statizoid.com/compare/military-spending-as-a-share-of-gdp-gmsd/japan/nicaragua/

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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).