Top 10 highest militarized world countries: The 10 most militarized countries in the world

For the first time in five years, world peace has increased very slightly, according to the Global Peace Index 2019 produced by the Institute for Economics & Peace. But over the last ten years, the index of the think tank, headquartered in Sydney in Australia, has however decreased by 3.78%, the situation has deteriorated in 81 countries since 2008. The Middle East and North Africa remain the regions most affected by violence and armed conflict, while Europe remains the most peaceful in the world.

The impact of violence on the global economy has also declined for the first time since 2012, from 3.3% between 2017 and 2018 to a total of $ 14.1 trillion last year, about $ 850 per capita of the planet and 11.2% of global growth. But disparities remain significant from one region to another, since in the ten most abusive countries, including Afghanistan and Syria, the average economic cost is 35% of GDP, compared with only 3.3% in the world. ten most peaceful states.

The Global Peace Index 2019 also reveals that 72 of the 163 countries surveyed have reduced the level of their military spending as a percentage of GDP. Of the 11 states with the highest per capita arms exports, eight are in Europe, the other three being the United States, Russia and Israel.

The majority of states have generally decreased their level of militarization, confirming the trend observed over the past decade. The Institute for Economics & Peace assesses the militarization of each country based on seven criteria: military expenditures as a percentage of GDP, the number of individuals in the armed forces per 100,000 population, the volume of conventional weapons imported per 100 Population, the volume of conventional arms exported per 100,000 inhabitants, the financial contribution to United Nations peacekeeping missions, the capabilities of heavy weapons and nuclear weapons and, finally, the ease of access to small arms and light weapons. small calibres.

Top 10 highest militarized world countries

The think tank establishes a global score based on these different criteria. Here, according to its assessment, the 10 most militarized countries in the world in 2018:

10. Pakistan - 2.58

9. Libya - 2.66

8. Syria - 2.72

7. Oman - 2.73

6. Saudi Arabia - 2.75

5. France - 2.77

4. North Korea - 3.06

3. United States - 3.07

2. Russia - 3.25

1. Israel - 3.88