Global military spending reached nearly US$2.9 trillion last year, marking an 11th consecutive year of growth, researchers said yesterday, as insecurity and rearmament fueled defense budgets. The three top spenders — the US, China and Russia — spent a combined total of US$1.48 trillion, just over half of global expenditure.
Spending rose by 2.9 percent compared with 2024, despite a reduction by the US, the world’s biggest spender, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Researcher Lorenzo Scarazzato said that the decrease from the US was more than offset by increases in Europe and Asia, as the world marked “another year of wars and increased tensions.”
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Scarazzato said this was also reflected in the global “military burden” — the share of worldwide GDP devoted to military spending — which reached its highest level since 2009.
“Everything points to a world that feels less secure and is spending on its military to compensate for the global landscape,” he said.
The US spent US$954 billion, 7.5 percent less than in 2024, largely because no new financial military aid to Ukraine was approved. By contrast, Washington pledged a total of US$127 billion to Kyiv over the previous three years, but the decrease is expected to be short-lived as the US Congress has approved spending of more than US$1 trillion this year, which could rise to US$1.5 trillion next year if US President Donald Trump’s budget proposal passes.
The main driver of the global increase was Europe — including Russia and Ukraine — where spending surged 14 percent to US$864 billion.
“That is driven by two major factors. One is the ongoing war in Ukraine and the other is the decreased US engagement with Europe,” Scarazzato said.
He said that the US is “pushing for Europe to take more care of its own defense.”
Germany, the fourth-largest spender, raised expenditure by 24 percent last year to US$114 billion. Spain also recorded a 50 percent jump to US$40.2 billion, pushing military spending above 2 percent of GDP for the first time since 1994.
The ongoing war in Ukraine saw both Russia and Ukraine increase their military spending, with each recording the highest share of government spending allocated to the military.
Russia’s spending rose 5.9 percent to US$190 billion, equivalent to 7.5 percent of GDP.
Ukraine boosted spending by 20 percent to US$84.1 billion — a staggering 40 percent of GDP.
Despite persistent tensions in the Middle East, expenditure in the region rose only marginally, by 0.1 percent to US$218 billion.
While most nations in the region increased spending, Israel and Iran actually recorded declines.
In Iran, it fell 5.6 percent to US$7.4 billion, but this was mostly due to high annual inflation of 42 percent. In nominal terms, spending actually rose.
Israel’s 4.9 percent drop to US$48.3 billion reflected a reduced intensity in the Gaza war after a ceasefire deal in January last year, researchers said, while adding that Israeli spending was still 97 percent higher than in 2022.
In Asia and Oceania, spending reached S$681 billion, an 8.5 percent increase from 2024 — the region’s largest annual increase since 2009.
Scarazzato said the “major player” in the region was China, which has been increasing spending every year for the past three decades and spent an estimated US$336 billion last year.
“But perhaps what’s interesting is the reaction of some other states, such as South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, reacting to the threat perception,” he said.
Japan raised military expenditure by 9.7 percent to US$62.2 billion last year, equivalent to 1.4 percent of GDP — its highest share since 1958 — while Taiwan increased its spending by 14 percent to US$18.2 billion.
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