Qatar vs United States of America: Military spending as a share of GDP
Qatar
3.4%
in 2019
United States of America
3.2%
in 2019
Qatar rank
18th
United States of America rank
20th
Military spending as a share of GDP over time
- Qatar
- United States of America
How they compare
Qatar currently reports 3.4% against 3.2% in United States of America, a difference of 0.2%.
That makes Qatar's figure about 1.1 times United States of America's.
The two have swapped places 5 times across 48 shared years of data; in 1971 it was United States of America ahead.
Qatar ranks 18th and United States of America ranks 20th of 172 countries.
Across the 5 decades both report, Qatar averaged higher in 4 and United States of America in 1.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Qatar | United States of America | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 4.5% | 4.4% | 0.1% | Qatar |
| 1980s | 7.0% | 4.5% | 2.5% | Qatar |
| 1990s | 7.7% | 3.2% | 4.4% | Qatar |
| 2000s | 3.2% | 3.1% | 0.2% | Qatar |
| 2010s | 2.1% | 3.2% | 1.1% | 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, Qatar or United States of America?
- Qatar, 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 Qatar and United States of America?
- 0.2%, with Qatar ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Qatar and United States of America?
- 48 years are reported by both, from 1971 to 2019.
- How do Qatar and United States of America rank globally for military spending as a share of gdp?
- Qatar ranks 18th and United States of America ranks 20th 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).