Military spending as a share of GDP in Latvia
Latvia: Military spending as a share of GDP was 2.0% in 2019. ▲ Rising
Military spending as a share of GDP in Latvia, 1918–2019
Source: Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2019, military spending as a share of gdp in Latvia stood at 2.0%. That is the highest value across all 52 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 8.0% on the previous year and up 75.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, military spending as a share of gdp in Latvia peaked at 2.0% in 2019 and was at its lowest, 0.2%, in 1991.
That places Latvia 42nd 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 Latvia, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1918 | 0.6% | — |
| 1919 | 0.5% | -24.0% |
| 1920 | 0.4% | -14.1% |
| 1921 | 0.5% | +21.5% |
| 1922 | 0.5% | +11.9% |
| 1923 | 0.6% | +17.5% |
| 1924 | 0.6% | +2.3% |
| 1925 | 0.8% | +20.2% |
| 1926 | 0.8% | +6.0% |
| 1927 | 0.9% | +5.1% |
| 1928 | 0.9% | -0.1% |
| 1929 | 0.8% | -2.2% |
| 1930 | 0.8% | -1.0% |
| 1931 | 0.8% | -4.1% |
| 1932 | 0.8% | -4.1% |
| 1933 | 0.8% | +2.2% |
| 1934 | 1.1% | +35.2% |
| 1935 | 1.1% | +5.1% |
| 1936 | 1.2% | +4.7% |
| 1937 | 1.1% | -8.0% |
| 1938 | 1.1% | +6.6% |
| 1939 | 1.0% | -7.8% |
| 1940 | 1.1% | +8.6% |
| 1991 | 0.2% | -85.0% |
| 1992 | 0.4% | +156.4% |
| 1993 | 0.5% | +7.1% |
| 1994 | 0.5% | +5.4% |
| 1995 | 0.7% | +33.3% |
| 1996 | 0.7% | +0.5% |
| 1997 | 0.6% | -9.1% |
| 1998 | 0.5% | -24.3% |
| 1999 | 0.5% | +4.3% |
| 2000 | 0.5% | +13.7% |
| 2001 | 0.6% | +12.5% |
| 2002 | 0.8% | +24.3% |
| 2003 | 1.0% | +26.7% |
| 2004 | 0.9% | -0.9% |
| 2005 | 1.0% | +1.3% |
| 2006 | 1.2% | +24.4% |
| 2007 | 1.4% | +13.3% |
| 2008 | 1.5% | +9.8% |
| 2009 | 1.1% | -23.5% |
| 2010 | 1.0% | -15.0% |
| 2011 | 0.9% | -3.5% |
| 2012 | 0.8% | -17.4% |
| 2013 | 0.8% | +6.2% |
| 2014 | 0.9% | +8.1% |
| 2015 | 0.9% | +1.4% |
| 2016 | 1.2% | +30.0% |
| 2017 | 1.5% | +26.5% |
| 2018 | 1.9% | +25.2% |
| 2019 | 2.0% | +8.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.6% | 2 |
| 1920s | 0.7% | 0.4% | 0.9% | 10 |
| 1930s | 1.0% | 0.8% | 1.2% | 10 |
| 1940s | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1 |
| 1990s | 0.5% | 0.2% | 0.7% | 9 |
| 2000s | 1.0% | 0.5% | 1.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.2% | 0.8% | 2.0% | 10 |
Countries ranked near Latvia
More economy & growth data for Latvia
- Industry (including construction), value added (constant 2015 US$) 4.38 % change on previous year (2025)
- Industry (including construction), value added (constant 2015 US$) 0.1132 constant 2015 US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Industry (including construction), value added (constant 2015 US$) 2,979 constant 2015 US$ per person (2025)
- Industry (including construction), value added (constant LCU), annual 4.38 % change on previous year (2025)
- Industry (including construction), value added (constant LCU), per 0.1151 constant LCU per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Industry (including construction), value added (constant LCU), per 3,029 constant LCU per person (2025)
- Services, value added (current US$), annual growth rate 9.67 % change on previous year (2025)
- Services, value added (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.6425 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Services, value added (current US$), per capita 16,904 current US$ per person (2025)
- Services, value added (current LCU), annual growth rate 5.05 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is military spending as a share of gdp in Latvia?
- Military spending as a share of gdp in Latvia was 2.0% 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 Latvia?
- The highest recorded value was 2.0% in 2019.
- What is the lowest military spending as a share of gdp recorded in Latvia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2% in 1991.
- How does Latvia rank for military spending as a share of gdp?
- Latvia ranks 42nd out of 172 countries with data for 2019.
- Is military spending as a share of gdp rising or falling in Latvia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 75.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Latvia 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 — 52 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).