Korea vs Viet Nam: Military spending as a share of GDP
Korea
2.4%
in 2019
Viet Nam
2.3%
in 2019
Korea rank
30th
Viet Nam rank
33rd
Military spending as a share of GDP over time
- Korea
- Viet Nam
How they compare
Korea currently reports 2.4% against 2.3% in Viet Nam, a difference of 0.1%.
The two have swapped places 7 times across 66 shared years of data; in 1954 it was Viet Nam ahead.
Korea ranks 30th and Viet Nam ranks 33rd of 172 countries.
Across the 7 decades both report, Korea averaged higher in 1 and Viet Nam in 6.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Korea | Viet Nam | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 2.8% | 6.9% | 4.1% | Viet Nam |
| 1960s | 2.2% | 11.7% | 9.5% | Viet Nam |
| 1970s | 2.7% | 7.9% | 5.2% | Viet Nam |
| 1980s | 3.5% | 9.2% | 5.7% | Viet Nam |
| 1990s | 2.6% | 2.5% | 0.1% | Korea |
| 2000s | 1.8% | 2.9% | 1.1% | Viet Nam |
| 2010s | 2.1% | 2.1% | 0.1% | Viet Nam |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher military spending as a share of gdp, Korea or Viet Nam?
- Korea, at 2.4% against 2.3% in Viet Nam as of 2019.
- What is the difference in military spending as a share of gdp between Korea and Viet Nam?
- 0.1%, with Korea ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Korea and Viet Nam?
- 66 years are reported by both, from 1954 to 2019.
- How do Korea and Viet Nam rank globally for military spending as a share of gdp?
- Korea ranks 30th and Viet Nam ranks 33rd of 172 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) β 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.
Individual pages
About this data
Military spending measured as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP).