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The War Bill

Twenty years of America's wars, line by line, and the whole world's military bill for one year. Every number straight from the people who count it.

On the Ledger: They always find the money for war (opinion).

1 · Twenty years, line by line

The 20-Year War Bill

What the wars after 9/11 (Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan and elsewhere) cost the U.S. government, line by line.

  1. Block 1
    War budget    $2.10Tmoney Congress set aside for the wars at the PentagonFY2001–2022
  2. Block 2
    Bigger base    $0.88TPentagon's regular budget grew because of the warsFY2001–2022
  3. Block 3
    Homeland    $1.12THomeland Security, prevention and responseFY2001–2022
  4. Block 4
    Diplomacy    $0.19TState Department and USAID war spendingFY2001–2022
  5. Block 5
    Veterans    $0.47Tveterans' medical and disability care so farthrough FY2022
  6. Block 6
    Interest    $1.09Tinterest on money borrowed to pay for the warsthrough FY2022
  7. Block 7
    Still owed    $2.2Tveterans' care promised through 2050, not paid yetFY2023–2050

$5.84T spent through 2022$2.2T still owed

$8.04Tthe full bill, including care still owed
2.2×America's whole 10-year infrastructure gap ($3.69T, ASCE 2025)
940,000+people killed by direct war violence (Costs of War)

Billions of current (not inflation-adjusted) U.S. dollars. Source: Neta Crawford, "The U.S. Budgetary Costs of the Post-9/11 Wars", Costs of War, Brown University (Sept. 1, 2021), Table 1. Deaths: Costs of War, Findings. Flag: this is the newest full total; Costs of War has not updated it since 2021 (checked Oct. 24, 2026). Comparison with ASCE mixes years.

Line to remember

Twenty years of war cost $8 trillion, and we're still paying for it.

2 · One year, the whole world

The World's Military Bill

$2,887Bspent on militaries worldwide in 2025
$352for every person on Earth
+41%more than in 2016, after inflation
2.5%of everything the world produced (world GDP)
  • United States$954B
  • China (est.)$336B
  • Russia (est.)$190B
  • Germany$114B
  • India$92B
  • United Kingdom$89B
  • Ukraine (est.)$84B
  • Saudi Arabia (est.)$83B
  • France$68B
  • Japan$62B
  • Israel$48B
  • Italy$48B
  • South Korea$48B
  • Poland$47B
  • Spain$40B
  • Everyone else$583B

The U.S. spent more than the next six countries combined ($954B vs. $905B for China, Russia, Germany, India, the U.K. and Ukraine), and a third of the world's total. It also cut 7.5% after inflation from 2024.

Military spending, 2025, billions of current U.S. dollars. "Est." = SIPRI estimate. Everyone else = world total minus the top 15. Source: SIPRI, Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2025 (April 27, 2026).

3 · Interactive

What Else Could It Buy?

$91.6B10% of one year of Pentagon spending (FY2026)
1.23Mteacher salaries for a year
12.4Mmaximum Pell Grants
25%of a year of America's infrastructure gap

Move the slider yourself, with your own tax receipt →

4 · The other side

The strongest case against this page

"Strength keeps the peace."

  1. Deterrence is cheaper than war. A military strong enough that no one tries you can be the best deal in the budget. After Russia invaded Ukraine, Europe stopped arguing and started spending: Germany is now the world's 4th-biggest spender ($114B, SIPRI 2025).
  2. Washington already spends more on health than on the military. Medicare and Medicaid: $1.79 trillion. Defense: $916 billion (CBO, FY2026).
  3. A cut isn't a transfer. With a $1.99 trillion deficit, Pentagon savings could just mean less borrowing, not more teachers or roads.
  4. Part of it is people and inventions. Pay, pensions and health care for service members, and military projects like GPS.
Where Mara's argument still stands

None of that covers the wars themselves. The post-9/11 wars were extra spending on top of the base budget, and $1.09 trillion of their cost is interest on money borrowed to fight them (Costs of War). Those were choices. And worldwide, militaries cost $2,887 billion in 2025, up 41% in ten years.

Don't trust, verify

Check the math yourself

Open Costs of War's paper, find Table 1, and add the lines: 2,101 + 884 + 1,117 + 189 + 465 + 1,087 = 5,843 billion through 2022, plus about 2,200 billion in veterans' care owed through 2050 = 8,043. Then open SIPRI's fact sheet: China, Russia, Germany, India, the U.K. and Ukraine add up to 905 billion, less than the U.S.'s 954.

Costs of War hasn't published a newer full total since Sept. 2021 (checked Oct. 24, 2026); we'll update this page when it does. SIPRI updates every April.

Follow the moneyOpportunity costDeficitInterestDebt (national)Where the money actually goesYour tax receiptExtra: They always find the money for warLesson: the $40 trillion question