Brazil is the only South American country to appear in a list of the 15 countries which spent the most in the Defense sector in 2007 and 2008, according to a study released on Wednesday in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

According to the "South America's Military Balance" study, carried out by the Centre of Studies Neuva Mayoria, Brazil ranked 12th in the list, surpassing countries such as Australia and Spain.

The country spent a total of 20.7 billion U.S. dollars in Defense in 2007. In 2008, Brazil's expenditure with Defense reached 27.5 billion U.S. dollars.

The country with the highest Defense expenses in 2007 was the U.S., with 545.3 billion U.S. dollars, followed by the United Kingdom, with 63.2 billion U.S. dollars; France, with 60.2 billion U.S. dollars.

Though high, Brazil's Defense expenses amounted to only 1.58 percent of the country's GDP in 2007.

Source:Xinhua