In 2010, the countries of the world spent a combined $1.63 trillion on their militaries, according to 24/7 Wall Street. That includes money for weapons, soldiers, and maintaining infrastructure. The US led the way by far with just below $700 billion, more than the other top nine countries combined. Others in the top 10 list:
- Italy (No. 10) $37 billion: Since 2001, military spending in the country has dropped 5.4%, the greatest decrease among all the countries featured on this list. The cutbacks are the result of Italy trying to tame its large debt.
- India (No. 9) $41.3 billion: Although military spending decreased by $1 billion in 2010, it increased by 11.6% in February in response to China and Pakistan's strong programs.
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full list, which has China at No. 2 with $119 billion in defense spending. (More
US military stories.)