Military spending as a share of GDP in Bangladesh
Bangladesh: Military spending as a share of GDP was 1.6% in 2019. ▲ Rising
Military spending as a share of GDP in Bangladesh, 1971–2019
Source: Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Bangladesh recorded 1.6% for military spending as a share of gdp in 2019. That is the highest value across all 49 years on record.
That represents a change of up 13.0% on the previous year and up 86.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, military spending as a share of gdp in Bangladesh peaked at 1.6% in 2019 and was at its lowest, 0.3%, in 1973.
Bangladesh ranks 69th of 172 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 49 years of available data.
Military spending as a share of GDP in Bangladesh, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 0.3% | — |
| 1972 | 0.4% | +12.7% |
| 1973 | 0.3% | -13.6% |
| 1974 | 0.4% | +21.9% |
| 1975 | 0.4% | +14.7% |
| 1976 | 0.7% | +55.0% |
| 1977 | 0.8% | +10.3% |
| 1978 | 0.8% | +1.7% |
| 1979 | 0.7% | -2.3% |
| 1980 | 0.7% | -1.9% |
| 1981 | 0.7% | -3.4% |
| 1982 | 0.8% | +19.7% |
| 1983 | 0.8% | -1.8% |
| 1984 | 0.9% | +2.8% |
| 1985 | 0.8% | -9.6% |
| 1986 | 0.8% | +8.2% |
| 1987 | 0.9% | +7.6% |
| 1988 | 0.8% | -5.9% |
| 1989 | 0.8% | -5.3% |
| 1990 | 0.8% | -3.8% |
| 1991 | 0.7% | -3.5% |
| 1992 | 0.8% | +10.1% |
| 1993 | 0.8% | +1.1% |
| 1994 | 1.0% | +17.8% |
| 1995 | 1.0% | +1.9% |
| 1996 | 1.0% | +3.1% |
| 1997 | 1.1% | +4.0% |
| 1998 | 1.0% | -1.8% |
| 1999 | 1.1% | +1.0% |
| 2000 | 1.0% | -2.2% |
| 2001 | 0.9% | -11.7% |
| 2002 | 0.9% | -5.5% |
| 2003 | 0.8% | -4.5% |
| 2004 | 0.9% | +9.6% |
| 2005 | 0.9% | -3.0% |
| 2006 | 0.9% | -0.7% |
| 2007 | 0.9% | -0.7% |
| 2008 | 0.9% | +4.0% |
| 2009 | 0.9% | -4.2% |
| 2010 | 0.9% | +2.7% |
| 2011 | 0.9% | +5.2% |
| 2012 | 0.9% | +2.0% |
| 2013 | 1.0% | +6.7% |
| 2014 | 1.1% | +6.9% |
| 2015 | 1.2% | +13.6% |
| 2016 | 1.3% | +1.8% |
| 2017 | 1.4% | +14.5% |
| 2018 | 1.4% | -0.9% |
| 2019 | 1.6% | +13.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.8% | 9 |
| 1980s | 0.8% | 0.7% | 0.9% | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.9% | 0.7% | 1.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.9% | 0.8% | 1.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.2% | 0.9% | 1.6% | 10 |
Countries ranked near Bangladesh
More economy & growth data for Bangladesh
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 04 - Annual real GDP 6.09 Percent per annum (2029)
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 02 - Annual real GDP 7 Percent per annum (2029)
- Gross capital formation (current US$), annual growth rate -5.75 % change on previous year (2025)
- Gross capital formation (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.2854 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Gross capital formation (current US$), per capita 741.31 current US$ per person (2025)
- Gross capital formation (current LCU), annual growth rate 2.49 % change on previous year (2025)
- Gross capital formation (current LCU), per unit of GDP 34.49 current LCU per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Gross capital formation (current LCU), per capita 89,594 current LCU per person (2025)
- Gross capital formation (constant 2015 US$), annual growth rate -2.45 % change on previous year (2025)
- Gross capital formation (constant 2015 US$), per unit of GDP 0.2257 constant 2015 US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is military spending as a share of gdp in Bangladesh?
- Military spending as a share of gdp in Bangladesh was 1.6% in 2019, according to Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest military spending as a share of gdp recorded in Bangladesh?
- The highest recorded value was 1.6% in 2019.
- What is the lowest military spending as a share of gdp recorded in Bangladesh?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3% in 1973.
- How does Bangladesh rank for military spending as a share of gdp?
- Bangladesh ranks 69th out of 172 countries with data for 2019.
- Is military spending as a share of gdp rising or falling in Bangladesh?
- Over the last ten years it is up 86.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Bangladesh data come from?
- The figures come from Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Military spending as a share of GDP. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 49 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Military spending measured as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP).