The United States' military spending has dominated the world for years, but recent figures show that other nations are beginning to catch up.
While global tensions increase, with an increasingly complex Syrian conflict at the centre, countries are flexing their military might in a region ravaged by war.
But which countries are the biggest spenders on defence?
The United States dominates global spending on defence, with a budget more than double that of the next biggest spender, China.
It spends around $569bn a year on defence - the majority of which goes on operations, maintenance and personnel.
This has decreased from $587bn in 2014, according to data provided by IHS, which takes into account international exchange rates.
The world's 25 largest defence budgets
| Country | Defence budget |
|---|---|
| United States | 569.3 |
| China | 190.9 |
| United Kingdom | 66.5 |
| Russia | 53.2 |
| France | 52.7 |
| India | 49.7 |
| Japan | 49.3 |
| Saudi Arabia | 46.3 |
| Germany | 43.8 |
| South Korea | 35.7 |
| Australia | 34.3 |
| Brazil | 30.7 |
| Italy | 29.0 |
| Canada | 17.2 |
| Turkey | 15.9 |
| Israel | 15.6 |
| United Arab Emirates | 14.7 |
| Taiwan | 14.5 |
| Spain | 13.9 |
| Algeria | 12.4 |
| Poland | 12.2 |
| Netherlands | 10.6 |
| Singapore | 10.4 |
| Pakistan | 10.3 |
| Iraq | 10.3 |
As well as the United States, Japan and Brazil had the biggest falls in defence spending between 2014 and 2015.
South Korea, the United Kingdom and China had the largest increases - with China boosting its defence budget by $14.7bn in a year.
Of the 25 largest defenses in the world, 13 were Asian - with a total defence spending of $840bn.
Largest increases and decreases in spending 2014-15
| 2014 | 2015 | |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 586.9 | 569.3 |
| Japan | 54.6 | 49.3 |
| Brazil | 34.4 | 30.7 |
| South Korea | 32.6 | 35.7 |
| United Kingdom | 58.1 | 66.5 |
| China | 176.3 | 190.9 |
There were fewer Western countries in the top 25 - with seven of the top spenders being European and two being North American.
Three other continents were represented in the world's 25 largest defence budgets - Australia from Australasia, Brazil from South America and Algeria from Africa.
There are several different estimations of defence spending from a variety of sources.
The IHS has standardized all budgets into USD. Consequently, Russia's budget is lower due to the depreciation of the rouble against the dollar.
The IHS also said that Saudi Arabia looks lower compared to other sources because the figures do not include security spending, while the USA figure does not include FMF (foreign military financing) allocations.
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