Military spending as a share of GDP in Chile
Chile: Military spending as a share of GDP was 1.8% in 2019. ▲ Rising
Latest (2019)
1.8%
Change on year
up 8.8%
World rank
52nd
of 172 countries
All-time high
3.6%
in 1980
All-time low
0.1%
in 1893
Years of data
181
1839–2019
Military spending as a share of GDP in Chile, 1839–2019
Source: Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Chile recorded 1.8% for military spending as a share of gdp in 2019.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 8.8% on the previous year and down 15.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, military spending as a share of gdp in Chile peaked at 3.6% in 1980 and was at its lowest, 0.1%, in 1893.
That places Chile 52nd out of 172 countries with data for 2019, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 181 years of available data.
Military spending as a share of GDP in Chile, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1839 | 1.4% | — |
| 1840 | 1.5% | +8.9% |
| 1841 | 1.5% | -1.4% |
| 1842 | 1.6% | +4.1% |
| 1843 | 1.5% | -0.9% |
| 1844 | 1.5% | -1.7% |
| 1845 | 1.5% | -4.0% |
| 1846 | 1.4% | -2.2% |
| 1847 | 1.3% | -7.9% |
| 1848 | 1.4% | +5.9% |
| 1849 | 1.3% | -5.0% |
| 1850 | 1.2% | -8.7% |
| 1851 | 1.2% | -0.9% |
| 1852 | 1.1% | -7.9% |
| 1853 | 1.1% | +0.2% |
| 1854 | 1.1% | -4.8% |
| 1855 | 1.1% | +0.8% |
| 1856 | 1.1% | +5.0% |
| 1857 | 1.1% | -0.7% |
| 1858 | 1.2% | +9.2% |
| 1859 | 1.3% | +8.4% |
| 1860 | 1.4% | +4.0% |
| 1861 | 1.1% | -16.3% |
| 1862 | 1.1% | -1.1% |
| 1863 | 1.0% | -9.7% |
| 1864 | 1.0% | +2.6% |
| 1865 | 0.7% | -28.7% |
| 1866 | 0.8% | +1.4% |
| 1867 | 0.8% | +3.3% |
| 1868 | 0.9% | +9.1% |
| 1869 | 0.8% | -1.7% |
| 1870 | 0.8% | -6.6% |
| 1871 | 0.8% | +2.0% |
| 1872 | 0.8% | +2.7% |
| 1873 | 0.9% | +11.7% |
| 1874 | 0.8% | -7.9% |
| 1875 | 0.9% | +4.5% |
| 1876 | 0.9% | +1.8% |
| 1877 | 0.8% | -8.0% |
| 1878 | 0.9% | +12.3% |
| 1879 | 0.9% | -6.3% |
| 1880 | 0.8% | -11.5% |
| 1881 | 0.8% | +1.0% |
| 1882 | 0.4% | -47.2% |
| 1883 | 0.3% | -17.7% |
| 1884 | 0.3% | -6.4% |
| 1885 | 0.2% | -40.6% |
| 1886 | 0.2% | -5.4% |
| 1887 | 0.1% | -16.6% |
| 1888 | 0.2% | +15.1% |
| 1889 | 0.2% | +10.9% |
| 1890 | 0.2% | +3.9% |
| 1891 | 0.2% | -23.0% |
| 1892 | 0.1% | -10.5% |
| 1893 | 0.1% | -8.7% |
| 1894 | 0.1% | +2.2% |
| 1895 | 1.0% | +685.6% |
| 1896 | 1.1% | +11.5% |
| 1897 | 1.2% | +10.6% |
| 1898 | 1.3% | +4.2% |
| 1899 | 1.3% | -1.0% |
| 1900 | 1.2% | -1.4% |
| 1901 | 1.3% | +3.0% |
| 1902 | 1.4% | +5.3% |
| 1903 | 1.3% | -1.3% |
| 1904 | 1.3% | +0.0% |
| 1905 | 1.4% | +6.3% |
| 1906 | 1.5% | +5.7% |
| 1907 | 1.4% | -4.7% |
| 1908 | 1.3% | -8.1% |
| 1909 | 1.9% | +44.0% |
| 1910 | 1.9% | -1.2% |
| 1911 | 2.0% | +4.6% |
| 1912 | 2.0% | +2.2% |
| 1913 | 2.1% | +6.9% |
| 1914 | 1.6% | -25.7% |
| 1915 | 1.5% | -3.6% |
| 1916 | 1.4% | -10.2% |
| 1917 | 1.2% | -14.3% |
| 1918 | 1.0% | -12.1% |
| 1919 | 1.0% | -6.6% |
| 1920 | 0.8% | -16.9% |
| 1921 | 1.1% | +40.7% |
| 1922 | 1.0% | -11.7% |
| 1923 | 1.0% | -3.7% |
| 1924 | 0.9% | -8.1% |
| 1925 | 1.0% | +12.4% |
| 1926 | 1.2% | +16.8% |
| 1927 | 1.3% | +9.0% |
| 1928 | 1.2% | -3.1% |
| 1929 | 1.3% | +2.6% |
| 1930 | 1.2% | -4.3% |
| 1931 | 1.3% | +5.5% |
| 1932 | 1.2% | -5.2% |
| 1933 | 0.9% | -22.6% |
| 1934 | 0.9% | +0.4% |
| 1935 | 0.9% | -1.1% |
| 1936 | 0.9% | +0.0% |
| 1937 | 1.0% | +3.9% |
| 1938 | 1.1% | +11.1% |
| 1939 | 1.1% | +7.2% |
| 1940 | 1.6% | +35.8% |
| 1941 | 1.8% | +14.1% |
| 1942 | 1.9% | +8.9% |
| 1943 | 2.1% | +10.8% |
| 1944 | 2.4% | +11.2% |
| 1945 | 2.7% | +14.2% |
| 1946 | 2.1% | -21.3% |
| 1947 | 1.9% | -9.2% |
| 1948 | 1.9% | -4.2% |
| 1949 | 2.3% | +23.1% |
| 1950 | 2.3% | -0.0% |
| 1951 | 2.4% | +4.1% |
| 1952 | 2.7% | +15.0% |
| 1953 | 2.9% | +5.0% |
| 1954 | 2.0% | -29.7% |
| 1955 | 2.1% | +2.4% |
| 1956 | 2.2% | +4.9% |
| 1957 | 1.9% | -11.5% |
| 1958 | 1.7% | -13.2% |
| 1959 | 1.4% | -18.6% |
| 1960 | 1.3% | -2.3% |
| 1961 | 1.5% | +13.1% |
| 1962 | 1.5% | +1.8% |
| 1963 | 1.3% | -13.5% |
| 1964 | 1.3% | +2.3% |
| 1965 | 1.4% | +3.6% |
| 1966 | 1.2% | -12.6% |
| 1967 | 1.1% | -6.5% |
| 1968 | 1.0% | -9.3% |
| 1969 | 1.0% | -3.3% |
| 1970 | 1.2% | +23.7% |
| 1971 | 1.4% | +16.9% |
| 1972 | 1.5% | +6.6% |
| 1973 | 1.9% | +23.8% |
| 1974 | 2.5% | +30.9% |
| 1975 | 2.0% | -18.7% |
| 1976 | 1.8% | -12.8% |
| 1977 | 2.0% | +14.8% |
| 1978 | 2.6% | +27.0% |
| 1979 | 3.1% | +20.6% |
| 1980 | 3.6% | +15.9% |
| 1981 | 3.6% | -1.1% |
| 1982 | 3.4% | -4.0% |
| 1983 | 3.2% | -7.8% |
| 1984 | 2.9% | -8.2% |
| 1985 | 2.4% | -17.3% |
| 1986 | 2.0% | -18.2% |
| 1987 | 1.9% | -5.4% |
| 1988 | 1.6% | -12.0% |
| 1989 | 1.4% | -12.1% |
| 1990 | 1.3% | -7.3% |
| 1991 | 1.3% | +1.3% |
| 1992 | 1.4% | +4.5% |
| 1993 | 1.4% | +0.5% |
| 1994 | 1.7% | +18.7% |
| 1995 | 1.8% | +9.4% |
| 1996 | 1.8% | -2.4% |
| 1997 | 2.1% | +15.8% |
| 1998 | 2.1% | +3.0% |
| 1999 | 2.0% | -5.3% |
| 2000 | 2.1% | +3.3% |
| 2001 | 2.1% | -1.2% |
| 2002 | 2.0% | -5.1% |
| 2003 | 1.9% | -1.7% |
| 2004 | 2.1% | +11.1% |
| 2005 | 2.1% | +0.3% |
| 2006 | 2.3% | +8.3% |
| 2007 | 2.4% | +4.1% |
| 2008 | 2.4% | -1.0% |
| 2009 | 2.2% | -10.0% |
| 2010 | 1.8% | -14.4% |
| 2011 | 1.8% | -2.2% |
| 2012 | 1.7% | -4.6% |
| 2013 | 1.6% | -5.4% |
| 2014 | 1.5% | -5.5% |
| 2015 | 1.4% | -7.6% |
| 2016 | 1.4% | -1.1% |
| 2017 | 1.6% | +13.5% |
| 2018 | 1.7% | +5.2% |
| 2019 | 1.8% | +8.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1830s | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1 |
| 1840s | 1.5% | 1.3% | 1.6% | 10 |
| 1850s | 1.2% | 1.1% | 1.3% | 10 |
| 1860s | 1.0% | 0.7% | 1.4% | 10 |
| 1870s | 0.9% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 10 |
| 1880s | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.8% | 10 |
| 1890s | 0.7% | 0.1% | 1.3% | 10 |
| 1900s | 1.4% | 1.2% | 1.9% | 10 |
| 1910s | 1.6% | 1.0% | 2.1% | 10 |
| 1920s | 1.1% | 0.8% | 1.3% | 10 |
| 1930s | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1.3% | 10 |
| 1940s | 2.1% | 1.6% | 2.7% | 10 |
| 1950s | 2.1% | 1.4% | 2.9% | 10 |
| 1960s | 1.3% | 1.0% | 1.5% | 10 |
| 1970s | 2.0% | 1.2% | 3.1% | 10 |
| 1980s | 2.6% | 1.4% | 3.6% | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.7% | 1.3% | 2.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.2% | 1.9% | 2.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.7% | 1.4% | 1.8% | 10 |
Countries ranked near Chile
- 49 Burkina Faso 1.9% compare
- 50 Iran, Islamic Republic of 1.9% compare
- 51 Burundi 1.9% compare
- 53 Bulgaria 1.8% compare
- 54 Trinidad and Tobago 1.8% compare
- 55 Tunisia 1.8% compare
More economy & growth data for Chile
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 04 - Annual real GDP 2.04 Percent per annum (2029)
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 02 - Annual real GDP 2.32 Percent per annum (2029)
- Services, value added (constant LCU), per capita 6.75 million constant LCU per person (2025)
- GDP deflator (base year varies by country), annual growth rate 6.8 % change on previous year (2025)
- Gross value added at basic prices (GVA) (current US$), annual growth 8.94 % change on previous year (2025)
- Gross value added at basic prices (GVA) (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.9039 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Gross value added at basic prices (GVA) (current US$), per capita 16,265 current US$ per person (2025)
- Gross value added at basic prices (GVA) (current LCU), annual growth 9.83 % change on previous year (2025)
- Gross value added at basic prices (GVA) (current LCU), per unit of GDP 859.91 current LCU per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Gross value added at basic prices (GVA) (current LCU), per capita 15.47 million current LCU per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is military spending as a share of gdp in Chile?
- Military spending as a share of gdp in Chile was 1.8% 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 Chile?
- The highest recorded value was 3.6% in 1980.
- What is the lowest military spending as a share of gdp recorded in Chile?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.1% in 1893.
- How does Chile rank for military spending as a share of gdp?
- Chile ranks 52nd out of 172 countries with data for 2019.
- Is military spending as a share of gdp rising or falling in Chile?
- Over the last ten years it is down 15.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Chile 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 — 181 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).