What is the difference in military expenditure between Malaysia and Singapore?

1.66 billion current LCU, with Singapore ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for Malaysia and Singapore?

56 years are reported by both, from 1970 to 2025.

Where does this data come from?

SIPRI Military Expenditure Database, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), published as Military expenditure (current LCU). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Malaysia vs Singapore: Military expenditure (current LCU)

Malaysia

21.13 billion current LCU

in 2025

Singapore

22.79 billion current LCU

in 2025

Malaysia rank

98th

Singapore rank

97th

Military expenditure (current LCU) over time

Malaysia
Singapore

How they compare

Singapore currently reports 22.79 billion current LCU against 21.13 billion current LCU in Malaysia, a difference of 1.66 billion current LCU.

That makes Singapore's figure about 1.1 times Malaysia's.

The two have swapped places 9 times across 56 shared years of data; in 1970 it was Malaysia ahead.

Malaysia ranks 98th and Singapore ranks 97th of 168 countries.

Across the 6 decades both report, Malaysia averaged higher in 4 and Singapore in 2.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Malaysia	Singapore	Difference	Ahead
1970s	1.05 billion current LCU	642.83 million current LCU	412.07 million current LCU	Malaysia
1980s	2.84 billion current LCU	1.97 billion current LCU	874.23 million current LCU	Malaysia
1990s	5.13 billion current LCU	5.15 billion current LCU	19.90 million current LCU	Singapore
2000s	10.95 billion current LCU	8.97 billion current LCU	1.98 billion current LCU	Malaysia
2010s	14.98 billion current LCU	12.67 billion current LCU	2.31 billion current LCU	Malaysia
2020s	17.43 billion current LCU	17.81 billion current LCU	383.95 million current LCU	Singapore

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher military expenditure, Malaysia or Singapore?: Singapore, at 22.79 billion current LCU against 21.13 billion current LCU in Malaysia as of 2025.
What is the difference in military expenditure between Malaysia and Singapore?: 1.66 billion current LCU, with Singapore ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Malaysia and Singapore?: 56 years are reported by both, from 1970 to 2025.
How do Malaysia and Singapore rank globally for military expenditure?: Malaysia ranks 98th and Singapore ranks 97th of 168 countries.
Where does this data come from?: SIPRI Military Expenditure Database, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), published as Military expenditure (current LCU). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Malaysia vs Singapore: Military expenditure. Statizoid, drawing on SIPRI Military Expenditure Database, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Retrieved 07 November 2026, from https://public-sector.statizoid.com/compare/military-expenditure-current-lcu/malaysia/singapore/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://public-sector.statizoid.com/compare/military-expenditure-current-lcu/malaysia/singapore/">Malaysia vs Singapore: Military expenditure</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator: Military expenditure (current LCU)
Unit: current LCU
Source: SIPRI Military Expenditure Database, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage: 168 places, 8,396 data points, 1960–2025
Last refreshed: 29 October 2026

Military expenditure in local currency at current prices (by calendar year)