Figures published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute show the United States and China were the countries which allocated the most money to their military
Military spending across the world reached $2,443billion (£1,972billion) last year, marking the steepest year-on-year increase since 2009, figures released this week show.
The top 10 largest spenders – led by the United States, China and Russia – all increased their military spending, according to new data on global military spending published on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Particularly large increases were recorded in Europe, Asia and Oceania and the Middle East.
Nan Tian, Senior Researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, said: “The unprecedented rise in military spending is a direct response to the global deterioration in peace and security. States are prioritising military strength but they risk an action–reaction spiral in the increasingly volatile geopolitical and security landscape.”
Figures showed that Russia’s military spending increased by 24 per cent to an estimated $109billion (£88billion) in 2023, marking a 57 per cent rise since 2014, the year that the country annexed Crimea. Ukraine was the eighth largest spender in 2023, after a spending surge of 51 per cent to reach $64.8billion (£52billion).
Military spending by the US rose by 2.3 per cent to reach $916billion (£739billion) in 2023, representing 68 per cent of total NATO military spending. Britain spent $74.9billion (£60.6billion), compared with France (£49.5bn), Germany (£54bn), Poland (£25.5bn) and Spain (£19.1bn) in 2023.
Lorenzo Scarazzato, Researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, said: “For European NATO states, the past two years of war in Ukraine have fundamentally changed the security outlook. This shift in threat perceptions is reflected in growing shares of GDP being directed towards military spending, with the NATO target of 2 per cent increasingly being seen as a baseline rather than a threshold to reach.”
China, the world’s second-largest military spender after the US, allocated an estimated $296billion (£239billion) to the military in 2023. It was the 29th consecutive year-on-year rise in Beijing’s military expenditure and accounts for half of all such spending in Asia and Oceania.
Japan allocated $50.2billion (£40.5billion) to its military in 2023 while Taiwan spent $16.6billion (£13.40billion). Xiao Liang, a researcher at SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, said: “China is directing much of its growing military budget to boost the combat readiness of the People’s Liberation Army. This has prompted the governments of Japan, Taiwan and others to significantly build up their military capabilities, a trend that will accelerate further in the coming years.”
In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia was the biggest spender, followed by Israel, whose military spending reached $27.5billion (£22billion) in 2023. Diego Lopes da Silva, Senior Researcher at SIPRI, said: “The large increase in military spending in the Middle East in 2023 reflected the rapidly shifting situation in the region – from the warming of diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab countries in recent years to the outbreak of a major war in Gaza and fears of a region-wide conflict.”
SIPRI’s figures also show India was the fourth largest military spender globally in 2023, reports the Express. The largest percentage increase in military spending by any country in 2023 was in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. South Sudan recorded the second largest percentage increase of 78 per cent amid internal violence and spillover from the Sudanese civil war, according to SIPRI.