The United States has engaged militarily in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda, DR Congo, and the Central African Republic since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
These eleven countries are where the U.S. has committed boots on the ground. But this list does not include other U.S. military operations, like the ones in the central African country of Chad, or the proxy war waged in Ukraine with the $40 billion U.S. military and humanitarian package for that country authorized by 86 members of the Senate. (This is how the U.S. is arming Ukraine.)
The number and length of U.S. military engagements seems to be getting longer and more frequent since the U.S. began its ongoing U.S. global war on terror following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. As one of the world’s few superpowers, the U.S. spends hundreds of billions of dollars funding these operations, providing military support to allied governments, purchasing hardware from the private sector, and keeping ahead of China and Russia. The U.S. committed $782 billion to these efforts in 2022, not including the Ukraine package.
To identify what the U.S. spent on the military the year you were born, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the data on U.S. military spending from the World Bank, listing the years 1970-2019. Figures are in current U.S. dollars. We also calculated the percentage change in military spending from the previous year.
U.S. military spending topped $200 billion for the first time in 1982 and, by the end of the 20th century, that sum was well over $300 billion. Then the military budget took off like a Javelin missile after the start of the U.S. global war on terror. (The U.S. is also among the countries spending the most defending their borders.)
Since 2000, year-to-year U.S. military spending decreased only in the last four years of the Obama administration after the end of the Second Gulf War. In 2003, the military budget jumped by 16% compared to the previous year, the highest annual increase since 1982, which was during the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
Here is U.S. military spending every year since 1970
Source: Harvey Meston / Getty Images
1970: $83.41 billion
> Increase from previous year: -1.86% — #40 largest Increase on list
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Source: Space Frontiers / Getty Images
1971: $78.24 billion
> Increase from previous year: -6.20% — #48 largest Increase on list
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Source: Archive Photos / Getty Images
1972: $80.71 billion
> Increase from previous year: 3.16% — #26 largest Increase on list
Source: Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images
1973: $81.47 billion
> Increase from previous year: 0.94% — #37 largest Increase on list
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Source: Pictorial Parade / Getty Images
1974: $89.28 billion
> Increase from previous year: 9.59% — #12 largest Increase on list
Source: Archive Photos / Getty Images
1975: $92.08 billion
> Increase from previous year: 3.14% — #27 largest Increase on list
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Source: Keystone / Getty Images
1976: $94.72 billion
> Increase from previous year: 2.87% — #29 largest Increase on list
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Source: Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images
1977: $104.67 billion
> Increase from previous year: 10.50% — #10 largest Increase on list
Source: Space Frontiers / Getty Images
1978: $113.38 billion
> Increase from previous year: 8.32% — #15 largest Increase on list
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Source: Tony Duffy / Getty Images
1979: $126.88 billion
> Increase from previous year: 11.91% — #7 largest Increase on list
Source: FPG / Getty Images
1980: $143.69 billion
> Increase from previous year: 13.25% — #5 largest Increase on list
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Source: Gene Forte / Getty Images
1981: $176.56 billion
> Increase from previous year: 22.88% — #2 largest Increase on list
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Source: Hulton Archive / Getty Images
1982: $221.67 billion
> Increase from previous year: 25.55% — #1 largest Increase on list
Source: Tony Duffy / Getty Images
1983: $223.43 billion
> Increase from previous year: 0.79% — #38 largest Increase on list
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Source: Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images
1984: $245.15 billion
> Increase from previous year: 9.72% — #11 largest Increase on list
Source: Space Frontiers / Getty Images
1985: $272.16 billion
> Increase from previous year: 11.02% — #9 largest Increase on list
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Source: Getty Images / Staff
1986: $295.55 billion
> Increase from previous year: 8.59% — #13 largest Increase on list
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Source: Rick Stewart / Getty Images
1987: $304.09 billion
> Increase from previous year: 2.89% — #28 largest Increase on list
Source: Getty Images / Staff
1988: $309.66 billion
> Increase from previous year: 1.83% — #32 largest Increase on list
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Source: Pascal Rondeau / Getty Images
1989: $321.87 billion
> Increase from previous year: 3.94% — #24 largest Increase on list
Source: Space Frontiers / Getty Images
1990: $325.13 billion
> Increase from previous year: 1.01% — #35 largest Increase on list
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Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
1991: $299.37 billion
> Increase from previous year: -7.92% — #50 largest Increase on list
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Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
1992: $325.03 billion
> Increase from previous year: 8.57% — #14 largest Increase on list
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
1993: $316.72 billion
> Increase from previous year: -2.56% — #42 largest Increase on list
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Source: Phil Cole / Getty Images
1994: $308.08 billion
> Increase from previous year: -2.73% — #44 largest Increase on list
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
1995: $295.85 billion
> Increase from previous year: -3.97% — #46 largest Increase on list
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Source: Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images
1996: $287.96 billion
> Increase from previous year: -2.67% — #43 largest Increase on list
Source: Doug Pensinger / Getty Images
1997: $293.17 billion
> Increase from previous year: 1.81% — #33 largest Increase on list
Source: Space Frontiers / Getty Images
1998: $291.00 billion
> Increase from previous year: -0.74% — #39 largest Increase on list
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Source: USAF / Getty Images
1999: $298.09 billion
> Increase from previous year: 2.44% — #30 largest Increase on list
Source: NASA / Getty Images
2000: $320.09 billion
> Increase from previous year: 7.38% — #18 largest Increase on list
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Source: Mark Wilson / Getty Images
2001: $331.81 billion
> Increase from previous year: 3.66% — #25 largest Increase on list
Source: Mark Wilson / Getty Images
2002: $378.46 billion
> Increase from previous year: 14.06% — #4 largest Increase on list
Source: Scott Barbour / Getty Images
2003: $440.53 billion
> Increase from previous year: 16.40% — #3 largest Increase on list
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Source: Chris Jackson / Getty Images
2004: $493.00 billion
> Increase from previous year: 11.91% — #6 largest Increase on list
2005: $533.20 billion
> Increase from previous year: 8.15% — #16 largest Increase on list
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Source: Wathiq Khuzaie / Getty Images
2006: $558.34 billion
> Increase from previous year: 4.71% — #22 largest Increase on list
Source: David Paul Morris / Getty Images
2007: $589.59 billion
> Increase from previous year: 5.60% — #20 largest Increase on list
Source: Spencer Platt / Getty Images
2008: $656.76 billion
> Increase from previous year: 11.39% — #8 largest Increase on list
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Source: Alex Wong / Getty Images
2009: $705.92 billion
> Increase from previous year: 7.49% — #17 largest Increase on list
Source: Chris Graythen / Getty Images
2010: $738.01 billion
> Increase from previous year: 4.55% — #23 largest Increase on list
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Source: Majid Saeedi / Getty Images
2011: $752.29 billion
> Increase from previous year: 1.93% — #31 largest Increase on list
Source: Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images
2012: $725.21 billion
> Increase from previous year: -3.60% — #45 largest Increase on list
Source: Michael Buckner / Getty Images
2013: $679.23 billion
> Increase from previous year: -6.34% — #49 largest Increase on list
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Source: Sean Gallup / Getty Images
2014: $647.79 billion
> Increase from previous year: -4.63% — #47 largest Increase on list
Source: NASA / Getty Images
2015: $633.83 billion
> Increase from previous year: -2.16% — #41 largest Increase on list
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Source: Scott Olson / Getty Images
2016: $639.86 billion
> Increase from previous year: 0.95% — #36 largest Increase on list
Source: NASA / Getty Images
2017: $646.75 billion
> Increase from previous year: 1.08% — #34 largest Increase on list
Source: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
2018: $682.49 billion
> Increase from previous year: 5.53% — #21 largest Increase on list
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Source: Anthony Kwan / Getty Images
2019: $731.75 billion
> Increase from previous year: 7.22% — #19 largest Increase on list
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