WWIII: Global Military Spending Sees Biggest Rise Since End of Cold War
The U.S., China, Russia, Germany, and India accounted for 60 percent of the total in expenditures
Countries increased military spending last year to $2.7 trillion—an increase of 9.4 percent, marking the steepest year-on-year rise since the end of the Cold War as European and Middle Eastern governments splurge in spending amid what they see as growing regional threats, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
The U.S., China, Russia, Germany, and India accounted for 60 percent of the total in expenditures, spending a combined $1.635 trillion.
Xiao Liang, Researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, said in a statement that over 100 countries increased their military spending in 2024—prioritizing military security “often at the expense of other budget areas.”
“The economic and social trade-offs could have significant effects on societies for years to come,” the researcher said.
NATO countries increased their spending to $1.5 trillion and Russia increased its military spending by 38 percent from 2023 to $149 billion in 2024—about 7.1 percent of its GDP.
Ukraine spent about $65 billion—or 34 percent of its GDP, the highest level in the world.
“Russia once again significantly increased its military spending, widening the spending gap with Ukraine,” Diego Lopes da Silva, a senior researcher at SIPRI, said in a statement. “Ukraine currently allocates all of its tax revenues to its military. In such a tight fiscal space, it will be challenging for Ukraine to keep increasing its military spending.”
The report said European countries were the “main contributors” to the jump in military spending.
Another researcher from the think tank said Germany’s military spending increased by 28 percent to more than $88 billion and—“for the first time since reunification,” Berlin emerged as the biggest military spender in Western Europe—due to the €100 billion special defense fund that was announced in 2022.
In the Middle East, Israel’s military expenditure increased to $46.5 billion—a 65 percent jump from 2023—to 8.8 percent of its GDP. Lebanon increased its spending to $635 million, an increase of 58 percent from the previous year, the think tank said.
The report noted that Iran’s spending fell by 10 percent to $7.9 billion last year because of painful sanctions that “severely limited its capacity to increase spending.”
TRENDSPOST: The U.S. remains the world’s biggest spender on its military, writing a $997 billion check last year, and European countries are doing their best to catch up.