Over the past three years, Kazakhstan has significantly increased its defense spending. In 2024, government expenditures in this sector reached nearly 1.2 trillion tenge, up 1.3% from the previous year. Since the onset of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Kazakhstan’s defense budget has consistently exceeded 1.1 trillion tenge. For comparison, the country allocated 744.7 billion tenge to defense in 2021, and just 431.7 billion tenge a decade ago.
According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), global defense spending rose from 2.24 trillion US dollars in 2023 to 2.46 trillion US dollars in 2024. A significant share of this came from NATO countries, and the figure could climb even higher, as the United States is pushing allies to raise their defense spending from 2% to 5% of GDP. Notably, nearly two-thirds of NATO’s total defense budget—spanning 32 member states—comes from the United States.
With the U.S. scaling back military support for European allies amid a strategic pivot to counter China, France is poised to become Europe’s leading military power. The country plans to increase its defense budget by 50%, bringing it close to 100 billion US dollars.
The world’s fifteen largest defense budgets collectively amount to just under 2 trillion US dollars, with the United States alone accounting for 968 billion dollars—nearly half of that total.
The combined defense spending of the other fourteen countries stands at just over 1 trillion US dollars, only 5.1% higher than that of the U.S.
China ranks second in military expenditures with a budget of 235 billion US dollars, followed by Russia with 145.9 billion US dollars. However, when adjusted for purchasing power parity, China’s defense budget reaches 477 billion US dollars, while Russia’s rises to 461 billion US dollars.
According to the 2025 Global Firepower report, Russia’s defense budget stands at 126 billion US dollars. Among the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union and Central Asia, Uzbekistan follows with a defense budget of 2.8 billion US dollars. Kazakhstan allocates 2 billion US dollars to defense, while Armenia spends 1.7 billion US dollars.
Turkmenistan and Belarus each report defense budgets of 1.1 billion US dollars. The lowest defense expenditures in the region are observed in Kyrgyzstan, at 221.8 million US dollars, and Tajikistan, at 446 million US dollars.
Kazakhstan is home to more than 40 enterprises in the defense industry. These facilities manufacture wheeled armored vehicles, ships, aircraft, night vision equipment, ballistic helmets, fire control systems, ammunition, and other related products.
