Military spending as a share of GDP in Nepal
Nepal: Military spending as a share of GDP was 1.7% in 2019. ▲ Rising
Latest (2019)
1.7%
Change on year
up 6.8%
World rank
59th
of 172 countries
All-time high
1.7%
in 2019
All-time low
0.3%
in 1948
Years of data
100
1920–2019
Military spending as a share of GDP in Nepal, 1920–2019
Source: Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Nepal recorded 1.7% for military spending as a share of gdp in 2019. That is the highest value across all 100 years on record.
The figure is up 6.8% on the previous year and up 47.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, military spending as a share of gdp in Nepal peaked at 1.7% in 2019 and was at its lowest, 0.3%, in 1948.
Nepal ranks 59th of 172 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 100 years of available data.
Military spending as a share of GDP in Nepal, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1920 | 0.5% | — |
| 1921 | 0.7% | +27.3% |
| 1922 | 0.7% | -2.6% |
| 1923 | 0.6% | -2.4% |
| 1924 | 0.6% | -7.2% |
| 1925 | 0.6% | +6.7% |
| 1926 | 0.6% | -0.5% |
| 1927 | 0.6% | +0.6% |
| 1928 | 0.6% | +0.1% |
| 1929 | 0.6% | -2.1% |
| 1930 | 0.7% | +6.7% |
| 1931 | 0.7% | +0.3% |
| 1932 | 0.7% | +0.6% |
| 1933 | 0.7% | -2.3% |
| 1934 | 0.8% | +16.2% |
| 1935 | 0.7% | -4.7% |
| 1936 | 0.7% | -3.1% |
| 1937 | 0.7% | -1.8% |
| 1938 | 0.7% | +0.9% |
| 1939 | 0.7% | -6.0% |
| 1940 | 0.7% | +4.1% |
| 1941 | 0.6% | -7.9% |
| 1942 | 0.6% | -6.5% |
| 1943 | 0.5% | -10.4% |
| 1944 | 0.5% | -0.5% |
| 1945 | 0.5% | +0.4% |
| 1946 | 0.4% | -14.9% |
| 1947 | 0.4% | -15.5% |
| 1948 | 0.3% | -17.0% |
| 1949 | 0.4% | +19.5% |
| 1950 | 0.4% | -0.2% |
| 1951 | 0.4% | +10.3% |
| 1952 | 0.5% | +9.8% |
| 1953 | 0.4% | -4.4% |
| 1954 | 0.4% | -2.5% |
| 1955 | 0.3% | -19.7% |
| 1956 | 0.4% | +8.5% |
| 1957 | 0.4% | +3.7% |
| 1958 | 0.3% | -12.9% |
| 1959 | 0.3% | +5.2% |
| 1960 | 0.4% | +7.4% |
| 1961 | 0.4% | +17.3% |
| 1962 | 0.5% | +11.1% |
| 1963 | 0.6% | +14.4% |
| 1964 | 0.6% | +7.3% |
| 1965 | 0.7% | +9.1% |
| 1966 | 0.6% | -8.6% |
| 1967 | 0.6% | +0.3% |
| 1968 | 0.6% | -0.3% |
| 1969 | 0.6% | -5.1% |
| 1970 | 0.5% | -6.3% |
| 1971 | 0.5% | -4.9% |
| 1972 | 0.5% | +1.4% |
| 1973 | 0.5% | -6.3% |
| 1974 | 0.5% | +7.0% |
| 1975 | 0.5% | +0.5% |
| 1976 | 0.6% | +23.8% |
| 1977 | 0.7% | +3.8% |
| 1978 | 0.7% | -0.5% |
| 1979 | 0.7% | +7.9% |
| 1980 | 0.7% | -5.4% |
| 1981 | 0.7% | +0.1% |
| 1982 | 0.7% | +8.9% |
| 1983 | 0.7% | -1.4% |
| 1984 | 0.7% | -2.5% |
| 1985 | 0.7% | -1.0% |
| 1986 | 0.7% | -4.3% |
| 1987 | 0.7% | -1.5% |
| 1988 | 0.6% | -3.5% |
| 1989 | 0.6% | -6.8% |
| 1990 | 0.6% | -4.0% |
| 1991 | 0.5% | -5.1% |
| 1992 | 0.6% | +7.1% |
| 1993 | 0.6% | -2.9% |
| 1994 | 0.6% | -2.2% |
| 1995 | 0.5% | -3.9% |
| 1996 | 0.5% | -9.6% |
| 1997 | 0.5% | +4.0% |
| 1998 | 0.5% | -0.7% |
| 1999 | 0.5% | +7.4% |
| 2000 | 0.6% | +15.3% |
| 2001 | 0.9% | +45.3% |
| 2002 | 0.9% | -3.1% |
| 2003 | 0.9% | +9.6% |
| 2004 | 1.1% | +13.2% |
| 2005 | 1.2% | +11.5% |
| 2006 | 1.2% | -3.3% |
| 2007 | 1.1% | -2.9% |
| 2008 | 1.1% | +2.1% |
| 2009 | 1.2% | +3.4% |
| 2010 | 1.2% | +5.8% |
| 2011 | 1.3% | +4.9% |
| 2012 | 1.2% | -5.3% |
| 2013 | 1.2% | -3.3% |
| 2014 | 1.3% | +11.6% |
| 2015 | 1.4% | +7.7% |
| 2016 | 1.5% | +6.9% |
| 2017 | 1.6% | +3.7% |
| 2018 | 1.6% | +2.2% |
| 2019 | 1.7% | +6.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.7% | 10 |
| 1930s | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.8% | 10 |
| 1940s | 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.7% | 10 |
| 1950s | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.5% | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.7% | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.7% | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.7% | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.6% | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.0% | 0.6% | 1.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.4% | 1.2% | 1.7% | 10 |
Countries ranked near Nepal
- 56 Kyrgyzstan 1.8% compare
- 57 Romania 1.8% compare
- 58 Uzbekistan 1.8% compare
- 60 Poland 1.7% compare
- 61 Guinea-Bissau 1.7% compare
- 62 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1.7% compare
More economy & growth data for Nepal
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 04 - Annual real GDP 4.28 Percent per annum (2029)
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 02 - Annual real GDP 5.25 Percent per annum (2029)
- Services, value added (current US$), annual growth rate 4.06 % change on previous year (2025)
- Services, value added (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.5437 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Services, value added (current US$), per capita 835.03 current US$ per person (2025)
- Services, value added (current LCU), annual growth rate 6.61 % change on previous year (2025)
- Services, value added (current LCU), per unit of GDP 74.1 current LCU per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Services, value added (current LCU), per capita 113,807 current LCU per person (2025)
- Services, value added (constant 2015 US$), annual growth rate 4.36 % change on previous year (2025)
- Services, value added (constant 2015 US$), per unit of GDP 0.4062 constant 2015 US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is military spending as a share of gdp in Nepal?
- Military spending as a share of gdp in Nepal was 1.7% 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 Nepal?
- The highest recorded value was 1.7% in 2019.
- What is the lowest military spending as a share of gdp recorded in Nepal?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3% in 1948.
- How does Nepal rank for military spending as a share of gdp?
- Nepal ranks 59th out of 172 countries with data for 2019.
- Is military spending as a share of gdp rising or falling in Nepal?
- Over the last ten years it is up 47.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Nepal 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 — 100 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).