Military spending as a share of GDP in Estonia
Estonia: Military spending as a share of GDP was 2.2% in 2019. ▲ Rising
Military spending as a share of GDP in Estonia, 1918–2019
Source: Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Estonia recorded 2.2% for military spending as a share of gdp in 2019. That is the highest value across all 52 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 7.8% on the previous year and up 42.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, military spending as a share of gdp in Estonia peaked at 2.2% in 2019 and was at its lowest, 0.4%, in 1991.
That places Estonia 35th out of 172 countries with data for 2019, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 52 years of available data.
Military spending as a share of GDP in Estonia, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1918 | 1.0% | — |
| 1919 | 0.9% | -9.9% |
| 1920 | 1.0% | +2.1% |
| 1921 | 1.1% | +19.1% |
| 1922 | 1.2% | +3.0% |
| 1923 | 1.0% | -10.7% |
| 1924 | 1.0% | -4.9% |
| 1925 | 1.1% | +8.5% |
| 1926 | 1.1% | +3.6% |
| 1927 | 1.2% | +5.0% |
| 1928 | 1.2% | -0.9% |
| 1929 | 1.2% | -0.8% |
| 1930 | 1.1% | -4.8% |
| 1931 | 1.1% | -1.6% |
| 1932 | 1.0% | -6.2% |
| 1933 | 1.0% | -4.6% |
| 1934 | 1.2% | +27.1% |
| 1935 | 1.2% | -0.5% |
| 1936 | 1.3% | +4.1% |
| 1937 | 1.3% | +0.4% |
| 1938 | 1.4% | +9.6% |
| 1939 | 1.4% | -3.9% |
| 1940 | 1.4% | +0.2% |
| 1991 | 0.4% | -69.8% |
| 1992 | 0.9% | +123.2% |
| 1993 | 0.9% | +0.4% |
| 1994 | 0.5% | -43.2% |
| 1995 | 0.7% | +27.1% |
| 1996 | 0.7% | +8.4% |
| 1997 | 0.7% | -5.3% |
| 1998 | 0.6% | -4.6% |
| 1999 | 0.7% | +8.1% |
| 2000 | 0.7% | +0.4% |
| 2001 | 0.7% | +2.4% |
| 2002 | 0.8% | +15.4% |
| 2003 | 1.0% | +24.3% |
| 2004 | 1.1% | +8.6% |
| 2005 | 1.1% | -4.5% |
| 2006 | 1.2% | +10.7% |
| 2007 | 1.5% | +24.6% |
| 2008 | 1.7% | +12.2% |
| 2009 | 1.6% | -5.5% |
| 2010 | 1.6% | +0.9% |
| 2011 | 1.6% | -0.6% |
| 2012 | 1.6% | +4.4% |
| 2013 | 1.8% | +6.8% |
| 2014 | 1.8% | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 1.8% | +0.4% |
| 2016 | 1.8% | +0.4% |
| 2017 | 1.9% | +10.0% |
| 2018 | 2.1% | +6.7% |
| 2019 | 2.2% | +7.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 1.0% | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2 |
| 1920s | 1.1% | 1.0% | 1.2% | 10 |
| 1930s | 1.2% | 1.0% | 1.4% | 10 |
| 1940s | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1 |
| 1990s | 0.7% | 0.4% | 0.9% | 9 |
| 2000s | 1.1% | 0.7% | 1.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.8% | 1.6% | 2.2% | 10 |
Countries ranked near Estonia
More economy & growth data for Estonia
- Manufacturing, value added (constant LCU), per capita 2,318 constant LCU per person (2025)
- Industry (including construction), value added (current US$), annual 6.79 % change on previous year (2025)
- Industry (including construction), value added (current US$), per 0.1973 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Industry (including construction), value added (current US$), per 6,791 current US$ per person (2025)
- Industry (including construction), value added (current LCU), annual 2.29 % change on previous year (2025)
- Industry (including construction), value added (current LCU), per 0.1746 current LCU per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Industry (including construction), value added (current LCU), per 6,010 current LCU per person (2025)
- Industry (including construction), value added (constant 2015 US$) 2.64 % change on previous year (2025)
- Industry (including construction), value added (constant 2015 US$) 0.1142 constant 2015 US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Industry (including construction), value added (constant 2015 US$) 3,931 constant 2015 US$ per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is military spending as a share of gdp in Estonia?
- Military spending as a share of gdp in Estonia was 2.2% 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 Estonia?
- The highest recorded value was 2.2% in 2019.
- What is the lowest military spending as a share of gdp recorded in Estonia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.4% in 1991.
- How does Estonia rank for military spending as a share of gdp?
- Estonia ranks 35th out of 172 countries with data for 2019.
- Is military spending as a share of gdp rising or falling in Estonia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 42.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Estonia 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
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About this data
Military spending measured as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP).