Japan Defense Spending
Japan spent $62.2 billion on its military in 2025 — tenth in the world and 2.2 per cent of the global total. SIPRI records a 9.7 per cent rise on 2024 and a 61 per cent rise over the decade to 2025. At 1.4 per cent of GDP the burden remains low by the standards of the other countries in the top ten, but it has risen from 0.9 per cent in 2016 — a large relative shift for a country whose post-war constitution constrains the role of its Self-Defense Forces.
Since January 1st
Year progress
81.3% of the year
Reading Japan Defense Spending as a spending counter
MoneyPerSecond Editorial·Data last reviewed: September 8, 2026
Japan's defense budget funds the Self-Defense Forces alongside host-nation support payments that help cover the cost of US forces stationed in Japan—a cost-sharing arrangement tied to the two countries' security alliance rather than spending on a stand-alone national force.
Japan's 2022 National Security Strategy committed to roughly doubling defense spending to about 2% of GDP by 2027, a sharp break from the informal 1%-of-GDP ceiling the country had generally held to for decades after World War II, driven by concerns over regional security dynamics and including, for the first time, a “counterstrike” missile capability.
A weaker yen against the dollar in recent years has compressed Japan's dollar-denominated total even in years when yen-denominated spending rose, so exchange-rate movement alone can shift Japan's position in global rankings without any change in domestic budget authorization.
Japan's Ministry of Defense publishes annual budget outlines in English, and SIPRI documents its yen-to-dollar conversion methodology for those who want to verify the figures directly. Compare with China Defense Spending for the regional dynamic often cited behind Japan's buildup, or with Global Military Spending for Japan's share of the world total.
Time Breakdown
$1,972.35
per second
$118,340.94
per minute
$7,100,456.62
per hour
$170,410,958.90
per day
$62.2B
per year
How is this calculated?
// Annual amount
$62.2B
÷ 31,536,000 seconds/year
// Per second
= $1,972.35/sec
The counter starts from January 1st of the current year and accumulates at a rate of $1,972.35 every second, based on Japan Defense Spending's estimated annual figure of $62.2B.
Methodology
The annual figure is $62.2 billion for calendar 2025, at current prices and exchange rates, as SIPRI reports it in table 1 of the April 2026 fact sheet. Japan's fiscal year runs from April to March, so SIPRI's calendar-year series does not line up with the Ministry of Defense's own budget years, and a figure quoted from a Japanese budget document will differ from this one for that reason before any definitional differences. The yen-dollar rate also moves the dollar figure independently of anything Japan decides. The per-second rate divides the annual total by 31,536,000 seconds.
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Data Sources
SIPRI, Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2025
https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2026-04/2604_milex_2025.pdfCited figure
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2025 — SIPRI Fact Sheet, table 1 (2026): $62.2 billion for Calendar year 2025, as reported by the publisher. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2026-04/2604_milex_2025.pdfDisclaimer
Defense figures are based on approved budgets and SIPRI estimates.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Japan spend on defense per second?
At $62.2 billion in 2025, Japanese military spending works out to roughly $1,972 per second spread evenly across the year.