Military production during World War II

Military production during World War II was a critical component to military performance during WWII

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Over the course of the war, the Allied countries

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

 outproduced the Axis countries

Axis Powers

The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...

 in most categories of weapons.

Military production during World War II was a critical component to military performance during WWII

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Over the course of the war, the Allied countries

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

 outproduced the Axis countries

Axis Powers

The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...

 in most categories of weapons.

Gross domestic product (GDP)

This table shows the relationships in Gross domestic product (GDP)

Gross domestic product

Gross domestic product refers to the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period. GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of a country's standard of living....

, 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
British Isles	284	287	316	344	353	361	346	331
USA	800	869	943	1 094	1 235	1 399	1 499	1 474
Allied Total: Allies of World War II The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...	1 629	1 600	1 331	1 596	1 862	2 065	2 363	2 341
Axis Total: Axis Powers The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...	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):

1. France-Axis distribution: 1940: 56%, 1941-43: 100%, 1944: 58%.
2. Italy distribution: 1938-1943: 100% Axis, 1944-1945: 100% Allies
3. Japanese values are included in Axis totals for all years in order to illustrate potential contribution
4. 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%.
5. US values are included in Allied totals for all years in order to illustrate potential contribution & Lend-Lease
   Lend-Lease
   Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
   
   
6. The Allied total is not the immediate sum of the table values; see the distribution rules used above.
7. The Axis total is not the immediate sum of the table values; see the distribution rules used above.
8. 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	914,683	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:
Pillboxes, bunkers (steel, concrete - uk only)	72,128,141 tonnes	132,685,348 tonnes
Estimate Concrete runways	10,000,000 tonnes

Note that most Battleships and Cruisers were produced before the war and many served through its entirety.

Vehicles and ground weapons

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	43,552		251,925	815,729
Other Commonwealth			5,215	46,014	37,983
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

Aircraft

Country	Military aircraft of all types	Fighter aircraft	Attack aircraft	Bomber aircraft	Transport aircraft	Training aircraft
Soviet Union	143,145	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	1134	2670
France	4,016	1,597	280	712
Other Commonwealth	3,081
Germany	119,307	55,727	12,539	18,449 German aircraft production during World War II The following is a list of aircraft production by Germany during World War II by type and year. Note that some figures may not be accurate, and it is not comprehensive. Aircraft variants of different roles are listed separately...	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
Romania	1,000

Naval ships

Country	Aircraft carriers	Battleships	Cruisers	Destroyers	Convoy escorts	Submarines	Merchant tonnage
Soviet Union			2	25		52
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				1	303		3,742,100
Other Commonwealth				3	60+		2,702,943
Germany	0	2		17	23	1,141
Japan	16	2	9	63		167	4,152,361
Italy	0	3	6	6		28	1,469,606

Large Scale Civil Engineering Construction

Country	Concrete bunkers and pillboxes
United Kingdom	72,128,141
Germany	132,685,348

Materials

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
Hungary	6.6	14.1	3.1
Romania	1.6	10.8	25.0

See also

• American armored fighting vehicle production during World War II
  American armored fighting vehicle production during World War II
  This page details tank production by the United States of America during World War II.- Stuart series :By the time the United States entered the Second World War in 1942 they had only two tanks ready for combat the M1 Combat Car and the M2 Light Tank. Originally both tanks only came equipped with...
  
  
• Army-Navy ‘E’ Award
  Army-Navy ‘E’ Award
  The Army-Navy "E" Award was an honor presented to a company during World War II for excellence in production of war equipment. The award was also known as the Army-Navy Production Award. The award would consist of a pennant for the plant and emblems for all employees in the plant at the time the...
  
  
• German armored fighting vehicle production during World War II
  German armored fighting vehicle production during World War II
  This article lists production figures for German armored fighting vehicles during the World War II era. Vehicles include tanks, self-propelled artillery, assault guns and tank destroyers....
  
  
• Rosie the Riveter
  Rosie the Riveter
  Rosie the Riveter is a cultural icon of the United States, representing the American women who worked in factories during World War II, many of whom produced munitions and war supplies. These women sometimes took entirely new jobs replacing the male workers who were in the military...
  
  
• Soviet armored fighting vehicle production during World War II
  Soviet armored fighting vehicle production during World War II
  During the Second World War from the start of the war between the Soviet Union and Germany on 22 June 1941 Soviet armoured vehicle production was necessary to replace losses due to combat and the loss of production facilities....
  
  
• World War II aircraft production
  World War II aircraft production
  This table lists aircraft production during World War II by country and year.See Also:*German aircraft production during World War II*United States aircraft production during World War II...
  
  
• World War II
  World War II
  World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
  
  

External links

• Allies and Lend-Lease Museum, Moscow
• Canada's WWII Industry & Production