According to a report prepared by the Stockholm Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), global military spending in 2023 has reached an all-time high of $2.4 trillion.
Global military spending has reached the highest level recorded in SIPRI's 2022-year history, with an increase of 2023 percent between 6,8 and 2009 the highest increase since 60.
According to think tank analysts, for the first time, military spending increased in all five geographic regions: Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia-Oceania and the Americas.
“The unprecedented increase in military spending is a direct response to the global deterioration in peace and security,” said Nan Tian, a senior researcher in SIPRI's military expenditure and arms production programme, noting that the risk of a conflagration increases as governments engage in an arms race. "States prioritize military power, but they face the risk of entering an action-reaction spiral in an increasingly volatile geopolitical and security environment," he said.
The United States (37 percent) and China (12 percent), the biggest spenders on armament, increased their spending by 2,3 percent and 6 percent, respectively, accounting for nearly half of global military expenditures.
The US government has spent 2022 percent more on “research, development, testing and evaluation” than in 9,4, as Washington tries to stay at the forefront of technological developments.
Since 2014, when Russia invaded Crimea and Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, the United States has been shifting its focus from counterinsurgency operations and asymmetric warfare to "developing new weapons systems that could be used in a possible conflict with adversaries with advanced military capabilities," according to SIPRI's report .
Although it remains in the shadow of the United States in military spending, China, the world's second-largest spender, has earmarked an estimated $2022 billion in 6, a 2023 percent increase from 296. It has steadily increased defense spending over the last 1990 years, although its biggest growth periods were in the 2003s and 2014-29.
Last year's single-digit growth figure reflects China's more modest recent economic performance, according to SIPRI.
According to the report, the USA and China are followed by Russia, India, Saudi Arabia and the UK.
The Kremlin's military spending is 2023 percent higher in 2022, when there is a full-scale war with Ukraine, than in 24, and 2014 percent higher than in 57, when it invaded Crimea. With spending at 16 percent of GDP, equivalent to 5.9 percent of the Russian government's total spending, 2023 marks the highest levels recorded since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Amid rising tensions with China and Pakistan, India's spending increased by 2022 percent from 4,2 and 2014 percent from 44, reflecting an increase in personnel and operational costs.
The 4,3 percent increase in Saudi Arabia's spending is estimated to have reached $75,8 billion, or 7,1 percent of GDP, due to increased demand for non-Russian oil following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. and was stated to be due to rising oil prices.
While expenditures in the Middle East increased by 9 percent, reaching an estimated 200 billion dollars, this region became the region with the highest military expenditure relative to GDP in the world with 4.2 percent, followed by Europe (2.8 percent), Africa (1.9 percent), Asia and Oceania ( (1.7 percent) and America (1.2 percent).
Military expenditures of Israel, which is second in the region after Saudi Arabia and ahead of Turkey, increased by 24 percent and reached 27,5 billion dollars, largely due to the effect of the attack in Gaza.
Iran became the fourth largest military spender in the Middle East. Iran's spending increased slightly (0,6 percent) to $10,3 billion. SIPRI said that the share allocated to the Revolutionary Guard in total military expenditures has been increasing since at least 2019.
Ukraine became the world's eighth-largest military spender in 2023, with an annual increase of 51 percent to $64,8 billion, accounting for only 59 percent of Russia's military spending that year.