Which Country Spends the Most on Police?

The approach to policing depends on where you live.

Which Country Spends the Most on Police?

The idea of policing is not new. The first police organization started in ancient Egypt in 3,000 B.C. England had police in the 13th century. And the first police force in the United States was created in Boston in 1838. But throughout history, establishing a fair police system for justice and security has proved challenging and generated lots of controversies.

Policing now faces more scrutiny than ever. After the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, protests against police brutality have spread around the world. These protests have been accompanied by a global outcry for police reform and more accountability for police.

Time will tell if the calls for change lead to new approaches for policing. For now, this is what policing looks like in different countries today, based on the percentage of GDP each country spends on public order and safety.

15. Policing in Ireland

GDP: $388.7 billion

Population: 4.94 million

Police spending: $3.5 billion (0.9 percent of GDP)

Carry guns: No

Total police killings: 1

*Data for Gross Domestic Product and population is from the World Bank in 2019. The percentage of GDP spent on public order and safety is from the OECD. Numbers for non-OECD countries come from Knoema.

**Numbers for police killings are for 2019 or the most recent year. They have been gathered from a Council of Foreign Relations report and news articles.

Bottom Line: Ireland

Ireland is one of 19 countries in the world where police do not carry firearms. In fact, most members of the police force, known as the Gardaí, never even receive training on how to use firearms. Usually, the only weapon they carry is a wooden truncheon.

The Gardaí complete 58 weeks of training to become probationary officers for two years. During this time, they complete a bachelor’s degree in police management.

Though they do not carry arms, the Gardaí are able to call upon a special unit in circumstances they identify as threatening. Since 1998, the Irish police force has been involved in six recorded fatal shootings. The most recent one occurred in December 2020.

Protests asking for justice for the victim, Nigerian-born George Nkencho, erupted throughout the country. Nkencho is believed to be the first Black person killed by police in Ireland.

14. Policing in Japan

GDP: $5 trillion

Population: 126.3 million

Police spending: $60 billion (1.2 percent of GDP)

Carry guns: Yes

Total police killings: 2

Bottom Line: Japan

Japan is often considered the gold standard for general safety. Some reports claim Japanese police officers have to invent ways to pass the time because of the country’s low crime rates.

Though armed, the police in Japan are trained in martial arts and prefer to rely on these skills and futon rolling (rolling violent and unruly people up in huge mattresses) to de-escalate dangerous encounters.

However, the police have also been criticized for ignoring the country’s high rate of domestic and sexual violence. Critics argue that police officers do not have a lack of work problem, but that they simply fail to respond to reports of crime against women.

The Japanese police force is about 90 percent male, which has been cited as one of the sources of the problem, along with a sexist culture that encourages women to be silent about violence.

13. Policing in Norway

GDP: $403 billion

Population: 5.347 million

Police spending: $4.84 billion (1.2 percent of GDP)

Carry guns: No

Total police killings: 0

Bottom Line: Norway

Many people who call for police reform have turned their eyes toward Norway and other Scandinavian countries as examples to follow.

Being part of the police force in Norway carries prestige, as the process of being recruited is intensive. Recruits do internships with local police and study policing, and the rate of acceptance has been reported to be around 14 percent of applicants.

Those accepted have to earn a three-year degree that covers ethics, policing and criminal justice. After graduation, officers are required to do annual 50-hour training.

In 2019, Norway did not report a single civilian murder by a police officer. The police in the country are not armed and often bring a psychiatric specialist or medical expert when they are dealing with people who show signs of mental illness.

12. Policing in South Korea

GDP: $16.47 trillion

Population: 51.71 million

Police spending: $19.76 billion (1.2 percent of GDP)

Carry guns: Yes

Total police killings: No data available

Bottom Line: South Korea

South Korea has a complicated history with its police force, which was one of the most brutal arms of the military dictatorships that ruled the country from the 1960s to the end of the 1980s.

In fact, in 1987 the police brutally tortured and assassinated a student who was being interrogated for participating in pro-democracy protests. The outrage that occurred after the story of the murder broke out is largely credited with breaking the camel’s back and ushering the era of free elections in the country.

Because of this painful history, the police have undergone a conscious reform to try to change their image and their relationship with citizens. This reform is widely regarded as effective, particularly after the general lack of violence during the Candlelight Revolution in 2016 and 2017, which culminated in the impeachment of then-president Park Geun-hye.

South Korean police are usually unarmed, though there is a special armed unit that is called in under life-threatening circumstances. No data on police killings is available.

11. Policing in Iceland

GDP: $24.188 billion

Population: 361,310

Police spending: $362.8 million (1.5 percent of GDP)

Carry guns: No

Total police killings: 0

Bottom Line: Iceland

Iceland spends a relatively high amount of its GDP on funding its police force and has a high rate of gun ownership, but the country does not arm its officers. This could explain why only one civilian death at the hands of police has ever been recorded in Iceland's history.

However, that is not to say that police brutality in non-lethal forms does not happen. Officers are trained and instructed to not use practices such as chokeholds, but there have been reports of members of the police force using this practice.

Still, protests have rarely ever been met with police force, though in 2019 officers pepper-sprayed refugees protesting deportation. This prompted allegations of racism and discrimination by the Icelandic police.

10. Policing in France

GDP: $2.715 trillion

Population: 67 million

Police spending: $43.4 billion (1.6 percent of GDP)

Carry guns: Yes

Total police killings: 26

Bottom Line: France

La grève, or strikes, are a common occurrence in France, where there is a strong culture of protesting for perceived rights and changes of government. This hasn’t translated into a police force that is trained in de-escalation tactics rather than brute force. Rubber bullets, tear gas and other violent practices have been used as a response to protests.

This response was most recently seen in the 2018 Yellow Vests protests and, ironically, in the 2020 protests against police brutality. The latter protests largely revolved around the 2016 killing of Adama Traoré, a Black French man of Malian descent.

Police brutality has been reported outside of the context of strikes and protests as well. French police have been accused of being 20 times more likely to target Black and Arab people than their white counterparts.

9. Policing in Germany

GDP: $3.861 trillion

Population: 83.132 million

Police spending: $61.8 billion (1.6 percent of GDP)

Carry guns: Yes

Total police killings: 11

Bottom Line: Germany

German police officers carry firearms, but their training largely revolves around avoiding their use.

Conscious of the painful legacy that police involvement had with the atrocious events of the Holocaust in Nazi Germany, the police are taught to use de-escalation techniques and avoid using force to the extent that it is possible.

Nevertheless, there does seem to be room for improvement, as there is an apparent lack of training in how to deal with suspects who are suffering from mental health issues. Two-thirds of people killed by police between 2009 and 2014 were found to have issues pertaining to mental health.

8. Policing in Israel

GDP: $394.652 billion

Population: 9 million

Police spending: $6.3 billion (1.6 percent of GDP)

Carry guns: Yes

Total police killings: No data available

Bottom Line: Israel

Given the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip, tension between the Israeli police and Palestineans run high. Palestineans claim to be targeted by the police force and to be often treated with undue force.

In May 2020, Israeli police killed autistic Palestinian man, Iyad Halaq, which sparked "Palestinian Lives Matter" protests.

Although there is no official data on the number of civilians killed by police in 2019, there are reports of 14 Israeli citizens dying at the hands of police between 2014 and 2015. Most of them were identified as belonging to marginalized groups.

7. Policing in the United Kingdom

GDP: $2.829 trillion

Population: 66.834 million

Police spending: $50.9 billion (1.8 percent of GDP)

Carry guns: No

Total police killings: 3

Bottom Line: United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has had an unarmed police force since the 19th century. The police themselves have resisted suggestions that they should arm themselves. However, it is important to note that this does not apply to Northern Ireland, where police officers do carry firearms.

The police force is aided by community support officers, who are tasked with taking on minor infractions like littering or drinking under the age. Some claim that not having the police respond to these incidents has lowered the frequency of police brutality incidents in the country.

As in many other countries, racism is common within the British police force. In 2020, Black Lives Matter protesters sought to highlight how police violence and systemic racism were also a long-standing issue in the United Kingdom.

6. Policing in China

GDP: $14.279 trillion

Population: 1.398 billion

Police spending: $258.4 billion (1.81 percent of GDP)

Carry guns: Yes

Total police killings: 2

Bottom Line: China

There is little information on the People’s Armed Police Force and their relationship with citizens of China.

Given the police force’s history of working to suppress anti-party sentiment, it is not expected that citizens would be likely to report incidents of police brutality. Because of this, official numbers are put into question.

However, the world has witnessed the force with which police have met pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong starting in 2017. Allegations of police brutality were widely left unanswered, even as footage of abuse gained international attention.

In September 2020, for instance, police were captured on video tackling a 12-year-old girl who was allegedly buying school supplies near where a protest was taking place.

5. Policing in the Chile

GDP: $282 billion

Population: 18.952 million

Police spending: $5.4 billion (1.9 percent of GDP)

Carry guns: Yes

Total police killings: No data available

Bottom Line: Chile

There is no official number for police killings in Chile, but police abuse in the South American country has been widespread and well-documented.

In 2019, 26 people were killed during protests for social reform, with many more injured, beaten, sexually abused and blinded. These statistics are exclusive to protests and don’t include police killings outside of this context, so the number is likely higher.

The Chilean police, known as the Carabineros, have invited international outrage for their response to the protests, which have spanned from 2019 to 2021 and are continuing today. Reports of abuse include shocking stories, such as police officers throwing a 16-year-old who was participating in the protests off a bridge. Allegedly, the officers fired pellets and tear gas at people who attempted to help him get out of the river.

Appalling brutality outside of the protests also has been recorded. In November 2020, police officers fired into a children’s services care home after two teenage residents threw rocks at them. In February 2021, the fatal police shooting of a street juggler erupted in protests around the country.

Many Chileans have equated the current police to the officers who aided violence, kidnappings and forced disappearances under the dictator Augusto Pinochet.

4. Policing in New Zealand

GDP: $206.928 billion

Population: 4.917 million

Police spending: $3.97 billion (1.92 percent of GDP)

Carry guns: No

Total police killings: 1

Bottom Line: New Zealand

New Zealand police officers do not carry guns in their holster, though they are equipped with a firearm in a lockbox in their car. They can only use the firearm with permission from a supervisor.

The island country spends almost 2 percent of its GDP on law enforcement and practices policing by consent. The model was imported from England in the 19th century, when New Zealand was still a British colony.

The policy was put into question after a white nationalist terrorist stormed two mosques and killed 51 people in 2019. The New Zealand police then introduced a pilot program that placed armed police officers in three communities.

However, the initiative drew heavy criticism since two of the communities had large populations of Maori and Pacific Islanders. Given that the terrorist was a white nationalist, this move was seen as racist and discriminatory. Activists further argued that 66 percent of police killings in the 2010s involved a victim of these ethnic communities. They believed that the initiative would further place their communities in harm.

Protests against the policy are credited with ending the initiative and keeping New Zealand police unarmed.

3. Policing in the United States

GDP: $21.433 trillion

Population: 328.239 million

Police spending: $428.66 billion (2 percent of GDP)

Carry guns: Yes

Total police killings: 1,127

Bottom Line: United States

The United States has a disproportionate number of police killings compared to the rest of OECD countries. The country's struggles with police brutality — which often appear to be motivated by race — have given it a sour reputation.

Many of the worldwide protests against racism and police brutality that happened in 2020 were inspired by the outrage felt in the United States, particularly by the Black community.

U.S. police officers are heavily armed, often receiving excess military equipment. Officer training varies by location, with basic training programs being 21 weeks on average. Some departments require 1,500 hours, while others require almost less than half that, at 800 hours. Because departments are funded by jurisdiction, wealthier areas tend to count on police officers that have trained for longer hours than their counterparts in lower-income communities.

Officers are usually trained in technical skills but do not spend as much time learning de-escalation tactics and crisis intervention strategies.

Black people are 20 percent more likely to be pulled over by police and three times more likely to be killed by police. Numbers like this have led to calls for police reform within the country.

2. Policing in Russia

GDP: $1.699 trillion

Population: 144.373 million

Police spending: $38.39 billion (2.26 percent of GDP)

Carry guns: Yes

Total police killings: No data available

Bottom Line: Russia

Russia has a difficult history with law enforcement, following the abusive regime of Joseph Stalin.

Today, the country does not report the number of killings committed by police, but its law enforcement forces have been criticized for heavy-handed and violent measures used against demonstrators during protests.

The Human Rights Watch 2020 report for Russia — which examines the year 2019 — states that "authorities responded to rising civic activism with bans, repressive laws, and showcase prosecutions."

The report also states that, although the authorities subsequently released several people from jail, they denied that there was excessive or abusive use of force.

Outside of the context of protests, studies have shown that Russian citizens perceive police officers are largely corrupt. Russia is ranked as No. 36 in police corruption in a survey gathered from multiple sources.

1. Policing in Costa Rica

GDP: $61.8 billion

Population: 5.47 million

Police spending: $1.55 billion (2.5 percent of GDP)

Carry guns: Yes

Total police killings: No data available

Bottom Line: Costa Rica

Costa Rica is often seen as an example for peace in the world, given that the Central American nation abolished its military in 1949.

However, some argue that the lack of military has resulted in a police force that is tasked with handling internal and external issues. This is a growing concern as the country deals with an increase in crime rates, mostly related to drug cartels. Perhaps this is why the country spends an astounding 2.5 percent of its GDP on its police force.

The country does not issue official numbers for police killings, but as in many other countries, there are records of police brutality. Excessive force is often linked to protests, where the police tend to respond with tear gas and other violent tactics.

There is also evidence that people do not feel safe reporting instances of police brutality and that police officers abuse their position. In 2014, seven officers were arrested after it came out that they had brutalized someone in custody and then falsified the report.