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.

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.

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.

GDP: $5 trillion

Population: 126.3 million

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

Carry guns: Yes

Total police killings: 2

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.