Sri Lanka vs Taiwan, China: Military spending as a share of GDP

Sri Lanka
2.0%
in 2019
Taiwan, China
2.0%
in 2019
Sri Lanka rank
43rd
Taiwan, China rank
41st

Military spending as a share of GDP over time

  • Sri Lanka
  • Taiwan, China
0246810194819832019

How they compare

Taiwan, China currently reports 2.0% against 2.0% in Sri Lanka, a difference of 0.0%.

The two have swapped places 4 times across 71 shared years of data; in 1949 it was Taiwan, China ahead.

Sri Lanka ranks 43rd and Taiwan, China ranks 41st of 172 countries.

Across the 8 decades both report, Sri Lanka averaged higher in 1 and Taiwan, China in 7.

Head to head by decade

Decade Sri Lanka Taiwan, China Difference Ahead
1940s 0.2% 6.8% 6.6% Taiwan, China
1950s 0.5% 7.1% 6.6% Taiwan, China
1960s 0.7% 5.0% 4.3% Taiwan, China
1970s 0.6% 5.6% 5.1% Taiwan, China
1980s 1.3% 5.9% 4.6% Taiwan, China
1990s 2.6% 5.0% 2.4% Taiwan, China
2000s 2.2% 2.2% 0.1% Taiwan, China
2010s 2.2% 2.1% 0.1% Sri Lanka

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher military spending as a share of gdp, Sri Lanka or Taiwan, China?
Taiwan, China, at 2.0% against 2.0% in Sri Lanka as of 2019.
What is the difference in military spending as a share of gdp between Sri Lanka and Taiwan, China?
0.0%, with Taiwan, China ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Sri Lanka and Taiwan, China?
71 years are reported by both, from 1949 to 2019.
How do Sri Lanka and Taiwan, China rank globally for military spending as a share of gdp?
Sri Lanka ranks 43rd and Taiwan, China ranks 41st 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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Sri Lanka vs Taiwan, China: 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 09 September 2026, from https://economy.statizoid.com/compare/military-spending-as-a-share-of-gdp-gmsd/sri-lanka/taiwan/

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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).