Military production during World War II was a critical component to military performance during WWII. Over the course of the war, the Allied countries outproduced the Axis countries in most categories of weapons.
Gross domestic product (GDP)
This table shows the relationships in Gross domestic product (GDP), between a selection of Allied and Axis countries, from 1938 to 1945, counted in billion international dollars and 1990 prices.
Country | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 |
Austria | 24 | 27 | 27 | 29 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 12 |
France | 186 | 199 | 164 | 130 | 116 | 110 | 93 | 101 |
Germany | 351 | 384 | 387 | 412 | 417 | 426 | 437 | 310 |
Italy | 141 | 151 | 147 | 144 | 145 | 137 | 117 | 92 |
Japan | 169 | 184 | 192 | 196 | 197 | 194 | 189 | 144 |
Soviet Union | 359 | 366 | 417 | 359 | 274 | 305 | 362 | 343 |
UK | 284 | 287 | 316 | 344 | 353 | 361 | 346 | 331 |
USA | 800 | 869 | 943 | 1 094 | 1 235 | 1 399 | 1 499 | 1 474 |
Allied Total: | 1 629 | 1 600 | 1 331 | 1 596 | 1 862 | 2 065 | 2 363 | 2 341 |
Axis Total: | 685 | 746 | 845 | 911 | 902 | 895 | 826 | 466 |
Allied/Axis GDP: | 2.38 | 2.15 | 1.58 | 1.75 | 2.06 | 2.31 | 2.86 | 5.02 |
Notes on the table (remember that the distribution values are rough estimates):
- ^ France-Axis distribution: 1940: 56%, 1941-43: 100%, 1944: 58%.
- ^ Italy distribution: 1938-1943: 100% Axis, 1944-1945: 100% Allies
- ^ Japanese values are included in Axis totals for all years in order to illustrate potential contribution
- ^ Soviet Union-Allies distribution: 1939: Only 67% due to the pact with Germany, but none to Axis. During 1940 Soviet Union is not counted at all. 1941: 44% is distributed to the Allies (after Operation Barbarossa), 1942-1945: 100%.
- ^ US values are included in Allied totals for all years in order to illustrate potential contribution & Lend-Lease
- ^ The Allied total is not the immediate sum of the table values; see the distribution rules used above.
- ^ The Axis total is not the immediate sum of the table values; see the distribution rules used above.
- ^ Allied/Axis GDP: This row shows the relation in GDP between the Allies and the Axis; i.e. 2.00 means the Allied production was 2 times larger than the Axis. Please note that only a selection of countries are included in the table. The distribution of values into alliances is described in the previous notes.
Table data source: Harrison, Mark, "The Economics of World War II: Six Great Powers in International Comparison", Cambridge University Press (1998).
Summary of production
System | Allies | Axis |
Tanks and SP guns | 227,235 | 52,345 |
Artillery | 914,682 | 180,141 |
Mortars | 657,318 | 100,000+ |
Machineguns | 4,744,484 | 1,058,863 |
Military trucks | 3,060,354 | 594,859 |
Military aircraft total | 633,072 | 278,795 |
Fighter aircraft | 212,459 | 90,684 |
Attack aircraft | 37,549 | 12,539 |
Bomber aircraft | 153,615 | 35,415 |
Reconnaissance aircraft | 7,885 | 13,033 |
Transport aircraft | 43,045 | 5,657 |
Training aircraft | 93,578 | 28,516 |
Aircraft carriers | 155 | 16 |
Battleships | 13 | 7 |
Cruisers | 82 | 15 |
Destroyers | 814 | 86 |
Convoy escorts | 1,102 | - |
Submarines | 422 | 1,336 |
Merchant shipping tonnage | 33,993,230 | 5,000,000+ |
Other: |
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Pillboxes, bunkers (steel, concrete - uk only) | 72,128,141 tonnes | 132,685,348 tonnes |
Estimate Concrete runways | 10,000,000 tonnes |
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Note that most Battleships and Cruisers were produced before the war and many served through its entirety.
Vehicles and ground weapons production during World War II
Country | Total tanks and self-propelled guns | Tanks and self-propelled guns | Artillery | Mortars | Machineguns | Military trucks |
Soviet Union | 105,251 | 92,595 | 516,648 | 200,300 | 1,477,400 | 197,100 |
United States | 88,410 | 71,067 | 257,390 | 105,055 | 2,679,840 | 2,382,311 |
United Kingdom | 27,896 |
| 124,877 | 102,950 | 297,336 | 480,943 |
Canada | 5,678 | 2150 | 10,552 |
| 251,925 | 815,729 |
Other Commonwealth |
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| 5,215 | 46,014 | 37,983 |
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Germany | 67,429 | 43,920 | 159,147 | 73,484 | 674,280 | 345,914 |
Japan | 2,515 |
| 13,350 |
| 380,000 | 165,945 |
Italy | 2,473 |
| 7,200 |
|
| 83,000 |
Hungary | 500 |
| 447 |
| 4,583 |
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Aircraft production during World War II
Country | Military aircraft of all types | Fighter aircraft | Attack aircraft | Bomber aircraft | Transport aircraft | Training aircraft |
Soviet Union | 157,261 | 63,087 | 37,549 | 21,116 | 17,332 | 4,061 |
United States | 324,750 | 99,950 |
| 97,810 | 23,929 | 57,623 |
United Kingdom | 131,549 | 49,422 |
| 34,689 | 1,784 | 31,864 |
Canada | 16,431 | 1740 |
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France | 4,016 | 1,597 | 280 | 712 |
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Other Commonwealth | 3,081 |
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Germany | 119,307 | 55,727 | 12,539 | 18,449 | 3,079 | 11,546 |
Japan | 76,320 | 30,447 |
| 15,117 | 2,110 | 15,201 |
Italy | 11,122 | 4,510 |
| 2,063 | 468 | 1,769 |
Hungary | 1,046 |
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Romania | 1,000 |
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Naval ships production during World War II
Country | Aircraft carriers | Battle ships | Cruisers | Destroyers | Convoy escorts | Sub marines | Merchant tonnage |
Soviet Union |
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| 2 | 25 |
| 52 |
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United States | 22 (141) | 8 | 48 | 349 | 420 | 203 | 33,993,230 |
United Kingdom | 14 (25) | 5 | 32 | 240 | 413 | 167 | 6,378,899 |
Canada |
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| 1 | 303 |
| 3,742,100 |
Other Commonwealth |
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| 3 | 60+ |
| 2,702,943 |
Germany | 0 | 2 |
| 17 | 23 | 1,141 |
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Japan | 16 | 2 | 9 | 63 |
| 167 | 4,152,361 |
Italy | 0 | 3 | 6 | 6 |
| 28 | 1,469,606 |
Large Scale Civil Engineering Construction during World War II
Country | Concrete bunkers and pillboxes |
United Kingdom | 72,128,141 |
Germany | 132,685,348 |
Materials used during World War II
Country | Coal | Iron Ore | Crude Oil |
Soviet Union | 590.8 | 71.3 | 110.6 |
United States | 2,149.7 | 396.9 | 833.2 |
United Kingdom | 1,441.2 | 119.2 | 90.8 |
Canada | 101.9 | 3.6 | 8.4 |
Germany | 2,420.3 | 240.7 | 33.4 |
Japan | 184.5 | 21.0 | 5.2 |
Italy | 16.9 | 4.4 |
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Hungary | 6.6 | 14.1 | 3.1 |
Romania | 1.6 | 10.8 | 25.0 |
1. ^ a b c In millions of tonnes (metric ton) (1 tonne = ~7.2 barrels of oil)
2. ^ Including 23.4 synthetic.