Military Expenditures (As % of Government Expenditure) in Sri Lanka

Military expenditures as a share of government expenditure reached 11.0 % in 2017 in Sri Lanka, according to the SIPRI Military Expenditure Database. This is 1.41 % more than in the previous year.

Historically, military expenditures as a share of government expenditure in Sri Lanka reached an all time high of 19.5 % in 1996 and an all time low of 7.51 % in 1990. When compared to Sri Lanka's main peers, military expenditures as a share of government expenditure in India amounted to 9.07 %, 5.02 % in Malaysia and 12.4 % in Myanmar in 2017.

Sri Lanka has been ranked 21st within the group of 145 countries we follow in terms of military expenditures as a share of government expenditure, 6 places behind the position seen 10 years ago.

Military expenditure is derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditure on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces, defence ministries and other government agencies engaged in defence projects, paramilitary forces, if these are judged to be trained and equipped for military operations, and military space activities.