New Delhi: Amidst mounting concerns over the climate emergency and a growing number of humanitarian crises worldwide, global military spending has surged to unprecedented heights.
The latest figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reveal that military expenditure rose by 3.7 percent in 2022, reaching a staggering $2.24 trillion – the highest level ever recorded.
SIPRI’s research also indicates that Europe experienced its sharpest year-on-year increase in military spending in three decades. The think tank, renowned for its credibility and expertise in the field, has published new data highlighting the three biggest spenders in 2022: the United States, China, and Russia accounting for 56 percent of the world’s total military expenditure.
As a result, global military spending will likely remain on an upward trajectory, posing significant challenges for those seeking to promote peace and disarmament worldwide. These increases reflect a perception that the security environment is deteriorating, prompting states to seek greater military strength and deterrence. In addition, with emerging threats ranging from cyberattacks to terrorism, states are placing greater emphasis on military spending to protect their national interests and ensure their security.
Russia -Ukraine conflict drive increased spending. World military spending grew for the eighth consecutive year in 2022 to an all-time high of $2240 billion. By far, the sharpest rise in spending (+13 per cent) was seen in Europe and was primarily accounted for by Russian and Ukrainian spending. However, military aid to Ukraine and concerns about a heightened threat from Russia strongly influenced many other states’ spending decisions, as did tensions in East Asia.
“The continuous rise in global military expenditure in recent years is a sign that we are living in an increasingly insecure world,” said Dr Nan Tian, Senior Researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. ‘States are bolstering military strength in response to a deteriorating security environment, which they do not foresee improvement in the near future.”
Military expenditure by states in Central and Western Europe totalled $345 billion in 2022. In real terms, spending by these states for the first time surpassed that in 1989, as the cold war was ending, and was 30 per cent higher than in 2013. Several states significantly increased their military spending following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, while others announced plans to raise spending levels over periods of up to a decade.
“The invasion of Ukraine immediately impacted military spending decisions in Central and Western Europe. This included multi-year plans to boost spending from several governments,’ said Dr Diego Lopes da Silva, Senior Researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme.”
As a result, we can reasonably expect military expenditure in Central and Western Europe to keep rising in the years ahead.’ Some of the sharpest increases were seen in Finland (+36 per cent), Lithuania (+27 per cent), Sweden (+12 per cent) and Poland (+11 per cent).
Russian military spending grew by an estimated 9.2 per cent in 2022 to around $86.4 billion. It was equivalent to 4.1 per cent of Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022, up from 3.7 per cent of GDP in 2021. Figures released by Russia in late 2022 show that spending on national defence, the most significant component of Russian military expenditure, was already 34 per cent higher, in nominal terms, than in budgetary plans drawn up in 2021.
Ukraine’s military spending reached $44.0 billion in 2022. At 640 per cent, this was the highest single-year increase in a country’s military expenditure recorded in SIPRI data. As a result of the increase and the war-related damage to Ukraine’s economy, the military burden (military spending as a share of GDP) shot up to 34 per cent of GDP in 2022, from 3.2 per cent in 2021.
The United States remains by far the world’s biggest military spender. US military spending reached $877 billion in 2022, 39 per cent of total global military spending and three times more than the amount spent by China, the world’s second-largest spender. The 0.7 per cent real-term increase in US spending in 2022 would have been even greater had it not been for the highest inflation levels since 1981.
US financial and military aid to Ukraine totalled $19.9 billion in 2022. Although this was the largest amount of military support given by any country to a single beneficiary in any year since the cold war, it represented only 2.3 per cent of total US military spending. In 2022 the USA allocated $295 billion to military operations and maintenance, $264 billion to procurement and research and development, and $167 billion to military personnel.
China and Japan lead continued spending increases in Asia and Oceania
The combined military expenditure of countries in Asia and Oceania was $575 billion. This was 2.7 per cent more than in 2021 and 45 per cent more than in 2013, continuing an upward trend dating back to at least 1989. China remained the world’s second-largest military spender, allocating an estimated $292 billion in 2022. This was 4.2 per cent more than in 2021 and 63 per cent more than in 2013. China’s military expenditure has increased for 28 consecutive years.